Capital: City of
Huaraz Altitude: 3.090 m.a.s.l. Distances: 248.5 miles (400 km) from Lima
to Huaraz
298 miles (480 km) from Trujillo to Huaraz, via Pativilca.
Ancash, cradle of
the ancient Peruvian culture. It is located in the North-western
part of Peru. It comprises a coastal strip as well as the
Andean mountain range.
It was the first culture that comprised
a great part of the Peruvian territory.
The men from the Chavin Culture were
great agricultors. They were characterized by their sculptures
of men, animals and misterious symbols and by the construction
of big temples and fortresses.
Huaraz, county capital of Ancash,
is characterized by its narrow streets with adobe houses
and wood balcones.
Callejón de Huaylas and Huaraz City
"Callejón de Huaylas" is a paradisiacal place,
called this way to the central section of the Andean valley
formed by the Santa River, contained between the Cordillera
Blanca (White Mountain Range) and the Cordillera Negra (Black
Mountain Range).
It possesses excellent weather the whole year. It was the
cradle of great millennial civilizations, outstanding Chavín
Culture.
The landscape of the Cordillera Blanca, with snowy mountains
and turquoise lagoons, at the foothill of the snowy mountains;
and a little below, near the river, towns and Andean villages,
of farmers and shepherds making this place an unique one.
The valley of Santa has an average elevation of 3,000 meters
above sea level (9,842 feet) and the flow of the rivers continues
from south to north. Their lands are very rich for agriculture,
and at the moment big lands dedicated to the cultivation of
flowers that are exported, exist leaving in the field a perfumed
aroma and beautiful colors.
In the Cordillera Blanca is located the highest peak in Peru,
named Huascarán of 6,746 meters above sea level (22,132
feet), the Alpamayo is considered as the most beautiful snowy
mountain of the world for its almost perfect pyramidal shape.
For all those who like to climb mountains, ascents to snowy
mountains, skiing, rafting, mountaineering, mountain biking,
paragliding, there are in "Callejón de Huaylas"
immense possibilities of finding the best and bigger challenges.
Visiting the "Callejón de Huaylas"
The starting point to know all the attractiveness of the "Callejón
de Huaylas" is the city of Huaraz, arriving there by
terrestrial way from Lima, since regular flights do not exist.
The trip for itself is a very pleasant experience because
of the beauty of the landscapes that can be appreciated during
the trip.
The advisable time to visit this area is a minimum of three
days.
Huaraz: Is the capital of the department
of Ancash, and is located in the heart of the "Callejón
de Huaylas". It has comfortable tourist services that
allow you to enjoy a pleasant trip.
Chavín de Huántar: Those are
the oldest buildings of carved stone in Peru and any other
town or culture did not overcome their highest architectural
techniques. Due to this UNESCO considered as a World Heritage
Place.
National Park of Huascarán: Place of incomparable scenic
beauty, natural landscapes in which outstand the Cordillera
Blanca, and the fauna and flora characteristic of the area.
Due to this UNESCO considered as a World Heritage Place.
Cordillera Blanca: (White Mountain Range)
Natural scenery of captivating beauty, with more than 35 snowy
mountains that overcome 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) of altitude
and with more than 650 lagoons with turquoise blue waters.
Excellent destination for the practice of mountain sports.
Towns in "Callejón de Huaylas": Cities, towns
and native communities, where the lives culture, rich in folklore
and in the kindness of the people, amid green fields, of multicolored
flowers that perfume their atmosphere, the red roofs of their
humble houses, make it a place without parallel.
Chavín Culture
The oldest pre-Inca culture in Peru (1500 BC. - 300 BC.),
they inhabited on the Andean basin of the Marañón
River and the "Callejón de Huaylas". Its
main cultural center was "Chavín de Huántar".
It was a wandering nation, of great
cultural and religious influence in other contemporary cultures
of the coast and mountain; its influence area reached from
Tumbes to the north, Nazca to the south, and the wild area
to the east.
In the early age of this culture, it
was a wandering town of hunters and collectors; then it
became urban, with development of agriculture, cattle raising,
metallurgy and an incipient textile technique. It was a
town of religious and warrior organization.
Their ceramic frequently in a globular
shape worked by hand with very fine clay. Defined shape,
right necks and handles like stirrups. They used the black
and gray color, outstanding decorations with incisions and
figures in relief, in which the permanent presence of drawings
of a deity in feline form with bird claws; of inferior technique
in comparison to other Peruvian cultures.
Their architecture and the carving
in stone reached great development, outstanding the construction
of temples; they used in the constructions cylindrical columns
and monoliths. Sculptures of the famous lances (forms of
ceremonial knives of great size), outstanding among them
the "Estela of Raimondi" and the "Lanzón
Monolítico" located in the temple of Chavín
de Huántar; there is a certain likeness with the
existent ones in the Polinesia and the Pascua Islands (Chile).
MUSEUMS
To appreciate their art and collections of incalculable
value in ceramic pieces, sculptures and lances you can go
to the Regional Museum of Huaraz, Archaeological of Peru,
Larco Herrera, or De la Nación in the city of Lima.
