from: Dilwyn Jenkins: The
rough guide to Peru; Rough Guides, New York London, Delhi;
6th edition September 2006; www.roughguides.com
The position of Ayacucho
Position and climate of
Ayacucho
Roughly halfway between Cusco and Lima, AYACUCHO ("Purple
Soul", in the Quechua language) sits in the Andes around
2800m high in one of Peru's most archaeologically important
valleys, with evidence such as ancient stone tools found in
nearby caves at Pikimachay, which suggest that the region
has been occupied for over 20,000 years. Its
climate, despite the
altitude, is pleasant all year round - dry and temperate
with blue skies nearly every day - and temperatures average
16°C (60°F). [In summer during November to April it's
raining in the night].
The surrounding hills are are covered with cacti broom
bushes and agave plants, adding a distinctive atmosphere to
the city.
Despite the political problems of the last few years, most
people on the streets of Ayacucho, although quiet and
reserved (seemingly saving their energy for the city's
boisterous fiestas), are helpful, friendly and kind. You'll
find few people speak any English; Quechua is the city's
first language, though most of the town's inhabitants can
also speak some Spanish (p.341).
[Poverty in Ayacucho
Poverty is immense and school uniforms cost a lot. By this
many children from the countryside have no possibility to go
to school and are only speaking Quechua. They are helping in
the household or making crafts when there is a family
tradition. The cement company was bought by an "American"
"investor" and then closed to rise the cement prices so
nobody can have cheap cement any more and the "American"
"investor" has higher prices with less production, all
cement has to come from Lima. Water is not always coming,
buses are tiny and the cars are old and never any indication
in a car is working but there are only few accidents as
well. In some boroughs the dry river is the trash can of the
natural trash but also plastic, and when it's raining hard
all trash is flowing away into the sea and the government
gives the guilt to the poor. In the suburbs exist mainly
cart roads or even dirt roads because money of the land
owners is missing to make any pavement. At the same time
natives from the cold mountain villages without any heating
and current are selling their products in the town in the
street, and the jungle with all it's fruits is only 200 km
away and people love it].
Some history of Ayacucho
Huari culture center
Ayacucho was the center of the Huari culture, which emerged
in the region around 700 AD and spread its powerful and
evocative religious symbolism throughout most of Peru over
the next three or four hundred years. After the demise of
the Huari, the ancient city later became a major Inca
administrative center.
[The Inca system was very militaristic and hard with slavery
suppression and was not loved by the other natives, so at
the arrival of the Spanish colonialists many native groups
supported the white colonialists against the Incas].
Spanish colonialists found
a new city at another place
The Spanish originally selected a different nearby site for
the city at Huamanguilla (p.341). but this was abandoned in
1540 in favour of the present location (p.341). The town
first was named Huamanga, then renamed into Ayacucho
(p.342). Ayacucho's strategic location, vitally important to
both the Incas and the Spanish colonials, meant that the
city grew very wealthy as miners and administrators decided
to put down roots here, eventually sponsoring the exquisite
and unique wealth of the city's
churches, which demonstrate the clearly high
level of masonic and woodworking skills of the local crafts
people.
[Spanish terror prohibited any other faith with stake and
torture, and rebellion movement was starting from Ayacucho,
but it was the last town liberated at the end].
Independence battle in 1824
The bloody Battle of Ayacucho, which took place near here on
the Pampa de Quinoa [Quinoa prairie] in 1824, finally
released Peru from the shackles of Spain. the armies met
early in December, when Viceroy José de la Serna attacked
Sucre's Republican force in three columns. The pro-Spanish
soldiers were, however, unable to hold off the Republican
forces who captured the viceroy with relative ease. Ayacucho
was the last part of Peru to be liberated from colonial
power.
1980s: Ayacucho was the
center of the left wing in the civil war - flow of
refugees to Lima - no return under Fujimori
Though quiet these days, Ayacucho was a radical university
town with a long left-wing tradition, known around the world
for the civil war between terrorists and the Peruvian armed
forces during the 1980s. Most civilians in the region
remember this era as one where they were trapped between two
evils - the terrorists on the one hand and the retaliatory
military on the other. Because of this, several villages
were annihilated by one side or the other. A large
proportion of villagers from remote settlements in the
region consequently decided to leave the area, which they
hoped would offer them relative safety. Despite efforts by
Fujimori's government to rehabilitate these communities and
entice people back from Lima to their rural homes in the
1990s, many of them remain in the capital today (p.338).
Festivals in Ayacucho
If you can be in Ayacucho for Semana Santa ["Holy Week"],
the Holy Week beginning the Friday before Easter, you'll see
fabulous daily processions and pageants and nightly
candlelit processions centered on the Catedral. But beware
of the beautiful procession of the
Virgen Dolores (Our Lady
of Sorrows), which takes place the Friday before Palm
Sunday: pebbles are fired at the crowd (particularly at
children and foreigners) by expert slingers so that
onlookers take on the pain of La Madre de Dios, and so
supposedly reduce her suffering. Around May 23, there is the
elaborate religious procession of the
Fiesta de las Cruces
["Festival of crosses"], when festivities often involve the
local "scissors" folk dance performed by two men, each
wielding a rather dangerous pair of cutlasses (p.341).
Arts and crafts in Ayacucho
Craft shops in
Ayacucho
Many visitors come for Ayacucho's thriving
craft industry, mainly
woven rugs and
retablos
([altar pieces], finely worked little wooden boxes
containing intricate three-dimensional religious scenes made
mainly from papier-mâché). Among the best shops for a wide
variety of arts and crafts are
-- artesanías
Helme,
Portal Unión 49, and
--
Pokra, [Jirón]
Jr Dos de Mayo 128 (p.342);
[and there are many many other craft shops to see].
Craft workshops in
Ayacucho
If you've got the time to spare, however, it's more
interesting and less expensive to visit some of the actual
craft workshops and buy
from the artesans themselves. Most of these workshops are
found in the barrio of
Santa
Ana, just uphill from the Plaza de Armas. Locals
are always happy to guide visitors in the right direction.
Altarpieces: Some of
the best-quality
retablos
are not all that expensive, but if you want one of their
more complicated modern pieces it could cost as much as
$300, and take up to three months to complete.
Rugs: For rugs,
check out Edwin Sulca - probably the most famous weaver here
- who lives opposite the church on the Plaza Santa Ana. His
work sells from around $100 (almost double in Lima's shops),
and many of his designs graphically depict the recent
political horrors around Ayacucho. Gerardo Fernandez
Palomino, another excellent weaver, has a store located at
his house and workshop located on [Jirón] Jr Paris 600, also
in Santa Ana.
Alabaster carvings:
Alabaster carvings - known in Peru as
Huamanga stone carvings
- are another specialty of Ayacucho artesans. Señor Pizarro,
[Jirón] Jr San Cristobal 215, has a reputation as one of the
best carvers in town, and the craft co-operative
Ahuaccllacta, Huanca Solar 130, is also worth checking out.
The tourist office can also make a few recommendations
(p.342).
[and there are many many other craft workshops to see. Just
walk around and the doors are opened or knock at the doors
when you speak Spanish].
Artesanía markets
--
Mercado Artesanal
Shosaku Nogase, close to the end of Jirón 9 de
Diciembre (p.342).
-- around Plazoleta Maria Pardo de Bellido
-- [Jirón] Jr Libertad, blocks 7-9, the first block of Jirón
Paris, second block of Pasaje Bolognesi and the first two of
Jirón Asamblea (p.342).