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THE SACRED VALLEY OF THE INCAS
Six o'clock in the morning in Urubamba. The sun barely begins
to warm the earth, and the people start their morning without
commotion. From out of the houses emanate the aroma of
baking bread, which becomes embroiled in the sweet odor of eucalyptus. It
smells of peacefulness. Work is just starting in the fields that overflow with
tender corn. Soon, the sun will rise to its throne in the middle of the sky,
and it will be necessary to...
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CUSCO, THE CITY AND THE HISTORY
Center of the world in the Andean cosmology and principal
city of the Colony, Cusco is a city shaped by the Inca and
the European worlds. Considered one of the architectural
gems of the world, it constitutes an excellent example of the amalgam of
cultures that forms the rich composition of our nation.
Cusco is one of those cities where it possible to find a living past, a history suspended among its walls and temples and even... |
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STONE ON TOP OF STONE
Located in the Huatanay River valley, the city of Cusco, originally
named Acamama, was populated long before the arrival of the
Incas. Its first inhabitants came there more than five thousand
years ago and prospered as farmers and llama shepherds, circa 1000 B.C.,
when the Marcavalle culture ruled the lands around the Huatanay. Later,
other ethnic groups flourished like the Huaru and the Chanapata, who
were present in that region for a...
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THE FOUR SUYOS
Cusco, considered by the Incas as the "center of the world",
had a strategic location that allowed it to unite, in just a
couple days journey by foot, places of such disparity as the
cold, Andean highland plains and the torrid Amazonian rainforests. This
vast network of roads - originally constructed out of carved rock and
stone slabs - opens itself outward like the rays of the sun towards the
different regions, or suyos, that formed the...
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PACHAMANCA
BY MARIANO VALDERRAMA
The pachamanca, literally the earthen cooking pot, is the epitome of the Andean banquet par excellence. Andean cultures tend to mix their worship of nature with social events. Pacha Mama, or Mother Earth, is a source of fertility and of life, and is also the origin of many products that then return to the earth to be cooked. The pachamanca is mainly eaten between February and March to celebrate... |
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MACA, THE GIN-SENG OF THE ANDES
BY CÉSAR GUTIÉRREZ
The world is waking up to maca, a prodigious plant with an unassuming appearance and immunological properties. Maca, which was much-appreciated foodstuff of pre-Colombian cultures for its energy-giving and medicinal qualities, is now attracting attention to its fertility and aphrodisiac qualities. In fact, the root conjures up historic, magical and religious overtones from that... |
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QUECHUA, IN THE INTIMACY OF LANGUAJE
BY RODOLFO CERRÓN PALOMINO
Quechua is one of the most important languages in South America, not just because of the fact it is spoken in five countries, but for historical and cultural reasons, as it was the official language of the Incas. However, alter the Spanish Conquest and subsequent colonization of the former Inca Empire, the language lost its social status to be replaced by Spanish, which was spoken... |
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CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE ANDEAN LANGUAGES OF PERU
BY MAX HAMMAN L.
Linguistic evolution is a process in which languages change during every minute of their existence. These changes respond both to internal conditions within the languages themselves as well as extralinguistic factors (contacts between groups, isolation, social dynamics, among others). However, given the fact that a language can be a tool of speedy communication due to its stability (because if the... |
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CORPUS CHRISTI
THE DAZZLING SHADES OF FAITH IN CUSCO BY LUIS NIETO DEGREGORI
"At four o'clock in the afternoon, the main square is filled to bursting, the chicha has been served generously amongst the crowds, and one can see the large clay jars under the altars... From Mr. C.'s balcony we have a perfect view... The sounds of the square drift up in a wave of odd confusion; guttural Quechua conversation and drunken shouts nearly drown out the fantasy-like music of... |
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CARRIED SHOULDER-HIGH BY THE FAITHFUL
A GUIDE TO RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS BY DANIEL SÁENZ MORE
The religious festivals and rituals have kept alive even the most ancient beliefs. They are riddled with a worId of ancestral sounds, rhythms and theatrical beliefs that continue to surprise the entire world with their creative dynamics. These qualities are more than just a fleeting activity in the midst of popular piety and mystery, but are also part of a sense of creativity and... |
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ONE AND MANY
THE GOD OF ANCIENT PERU BY CRISTÓBAL MAKOWSKI HANULA
The Andean gods have survived the Conquest. Neither the fury nor the zeal of those determined to stamp out idolatry, nor the patient and tolerant missionary work that followed were able to wipe the ancient deities from living memory. Countenances flashing fearsome feline fangs or falcon eyes stare out from museum glass cases. They are nameless figures, although the sinuous snake... |
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PRAYERS TO THE EARTH AND TO THE MOUNTAIN GODS
POR DIEGO IRARRAZAVAL
lt is said -and often it is the truth- that traditional customs are in crisis because of the explosion of market values that are striving to become a secular form of religion, and because of the adoption of modem customs by the youth or adults ashamed of their indigenous roots. Why, then, do Quechua, Aymara and mixed-blooded families across the highlands continue to make sacrificial offerings... |
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CUZCO THE NAVAL OF THE WORLD
BY OSWALDO CHANOVE
Cuzco has been called the Archaeological Capital of the. Americas, as nowhere else on this continent can boast such a collection of well-preserved ruins of a great civilization that are easily accessible. But Cuzco is also a city riddled with contrast between native styles and the Western World, historic and modern architecture which have lent the city a rare beauty.
Most visitors who... |
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THE URBAN SIDE OF THE ANDES
BY CRISTÓBAL MAKOWSKI HANULA
What part of Peru's pre-Hispanic past are we really capable of understanding? The country's archaeological remains are a lesson to humility. Just to stand in the middle of Chan Chan, or on top of the pyramid at Huánuco Pampa or in the city of Vilcashuamán is enough to fill us with a mix of contradicting impressions. The debate rages between a supposed recognition of... |
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A GUIDE TO ANDEAN FLORA
BY WALTER H. HUST
The puya Raimondi or titanka
(Puya raimondii)
The Puya Raimondi or titanka (Puyo Raimondi), which rears 12 meters high, is the Iargest plant on Earth. Discovered by the Italian botanist alter which it is named, the plant produces around 2,000 small white flowers which can contain as many as 10 millions tiny seeds. After living for a century in the Andean heights,... |
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A GUIDE TO PERUVIAN VALLEYS
BY WALTER H. WUST
Peru's Breadbasket
Slashing through the arid monotony of the coastal desert, wedged between soaring Andean peaks or spreading wide through the exuberant tropical jingle, Peru's valleys are an oasis in the middle of a hostile terrain Their rivers sculpt the landscape and dictate the seasons in the life of Man: when to sow and when to harvest, when to work and when... |
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THE RITUAL WAR
BY CRISTÓBAL MAKOWSKI HANULA
The imposing views of Sacsayhuaman, dominating the Imperial City, the image of the rapid conquest of the Andes by the Incas of Cusco and the conflict between Huáscar and Atahualpa still create a vision of a pre-Hispanic post of war, heroic defense, power struggles, and entire peoples vanquished and forcibly uprooted if not annihilated. Is this view really justified? And if... |
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THE ANDEAN MARATHON
BY EFRAÍN TRELLES
It is said that the Inca was great and powerful. He was capable of moving mountains, expressing his will and mobilizing people on an unprecedented scale.
It was said that he could do anything. He was strong, he had the means. But one of the elements that helped him most was the staggering road network that stretched in all directions across the Tawantinsuyo, the Inca Empire. The... |
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WHAT DO THE ANDES MEAN?
Usually the most common perception of the Andes wavers between two feelings. On the one hand, there is a sense of complacency about Peru's age-old past and its extraordinarily advanced Andean civilizations, specifically the Incas. That's something which most Peruvians find it easy to identify with. But on the other hand, we find it difficult to integrate that past and diversity with a vision of the Andean world that is modern, progressive and...
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