TILCARA

Sited in the lower part of the Huasamayo River basin, at 2900 m.a.s.l. Tilcara is one of the largest towns in the Quebrada de Humahuaca Gorge, with approximately 3,000 people living there. It owes its name to the original pre-Hispanic people that inhabited the area it was given over in Encomienda (as a grant) to its founder don Antonio de Argañaráz y Murguía and his heirs.

According to a Jesuit historian, the original Tilcara Indian people were brought here by the Spanish Government to live in what was called a Reduction where they were to be converted to Christianity. When in a Reduction, they were meant to live in the town itself or close by Tilcara was founded in the year 1586.

Regarding the original population, there are no documents left today to shed light as to where was the original place of residence of the people who were brought here. From the Church's administrative point of view, the town of Tilcara has always been considered to be an annexe of the Humahuaca and Tumbaya dioceses.

Its mainly mountainous area crosses the Humahuaca Gorge through which the Río Grande flows. It has a dry mild climate in the parts that border the Gorge, but the further one goes and the higher one gets, the colder the weather. In the southern hemisphere winter there are strong winds, the weather is cold and sometimes its gets to be freezing.

In the fertile valleys you will find the following species: willows, pepper trees, elms and acacias. As for wildlife, you will find guanacos, vicuñas, condors, eagles, fox, vizcachas and tayras.

It is considered the Archaeological Capital of the Province of Jujuy, not only incorporating El Pucará (An archaeological site considered the oldest in the region), but also an Archaeological Museum, and a scientific investigating unit such as The Tilcara Interdisciplinary Institute.

Tilcara is a tourist hub, and in the high season it becomes a centre for lodgings and summer holiday tourism in the region. Apart from the before-mentioned museums it also has handicraft centres, restaurants, coffee and pastry shops, garage workshops and places to fix tires. Its hotel capacity is 181 beds and its camping sites display a total capacity of 200 tents.

In Purmamarca you will find, side by side with ancient communal celebrations, such as the reverence to Mother Earth, "Pachamama", or the way they make a "payment" to the mountain spirits, the Apus, leaving a stone on a mound at the mountain passes, building an Apachetas, many Christian customs such as the Children's Mass, the Christmas and Easter pageants and many where the two converge in a syncretism.