In Monday’s article about Coca Leaf, we mentioned the rich archeological sites found near Ayacucho, Peru. The most famous of these sites is Pikimachay Cave, source of the oldest evidence of human habitation in South America. Today, you can hike up a mountainside to visit the cave, but there’s not much left to see. The artifacts, mainly consisting of stone and bone tools, have been taken to museums, and the cave itself is shallow and unremarkable.
However, the city of Ayacucho is worth a visit. Religion definitely plays a major role here, where there are 33 colonial-era churches, one for each year of Jesus’ life. Holy Week in Ayacucho is a major event, drawing people from around the country to attend special masses and watch the traditional horse races and running of the bulls. In Ayacucho and nearby villages, there is a charming tradition of putting miniature churches on the rooftops of homes.
Ayacucho is a great place to shop for handicrafts like huamanga stone carvings and high quality handmade alpaca wool products, such as tapestries and carpets. Many families in Ayacucho have been in the weaving business for generations, and they’ve perfected the art so far that their work has been featured in international handicraft exhibitions as far away as Zurich, Switzerland. Many shops have a workshop in the back where you can watch the weavers at work.
Ayacucho also has some interesting modern history to explore, as it was the base for the Shining Path in the 1980s.