Getting in Ayacucho

Daily buses to and from Lima on a well paved road. (9-10h)

Daily buses to and from Pisco the same well paved road. (6h)

Daily buses to and from Huancavelica offer 2 alternatives: 1. The direct way via Lircay (dust road) or 2. via Rumichaca and St. Ines. Take the main road from Ayacucho to the coast until Rumichaca (paved and in good condition), then catch a bus to Huancavelica (departure 11am, dust road). The landscape is unique and impressive, the very most part of it is between 4000 and 5000 m sea level.

Daily buses to and from Andahuaylas, run by Molina, Wari (leaves at 5:00am) and others (at least 10 rough hours). The dust road is partly in very poor condition, but the magnificent scenery is more than a compensation for that.

History of Ayacucho

Some of the earliest human remains in South America, dating back 20,000 years, have been found in Ayacucho. Pre-Inca inhabitants of the region included the Pocras, the Chancas and the Wari. The last, whose civilization flowered between 1000 and 1500 AD, created a sophisticated city of 40,000 people, called Wari.

The empire-building Incas conquered the tribes of the area between 1438 and 1532, but not without resistance from the Pocras and the Chancas. Inca Emperor Huiracocha launched a genocidal campaign against these groups, witnessing for himself the final bloody battle which was to give Ayacucho its ill-fated Quechua name — ‘corner of the dead’. Those few Pocras and Chancas who survived Inca ire escaped into the remotest highlands. They are, it is said, the ancestors of some of Peru’s poorest and most isolated peasants of modern times, the Iquicha.

The orderly Incas

The Incas took over the ancient city of Vilcashuaman in Ayacucho. Strategically placed on the Inca grid of major routes that linked a massive Andean empire, Vilcashuaman became an important military-religious centre. Inca civilization was hierarchical and tyrannical, but wiser and less chaotic than many of the regimes that followed it.

State-sponsored irrigation and terracing projects were expanded to bring more land under cultivation. Inca administrators were careful not to disrupt the existing tribal traditions of reciprocity and group work. But they also imposed taxes and forced labour for public, military and agricultural works.

Inca civilization was well-organized, hardworking and nobody starved. But this orderliness was achieved at a price. Those who paid it were the disenfranchised medley of tribal societies who became the first historically documented peasantry of Peru.

Region of Ayacucho

Ayacucho is a region of Peru, located in the south-central Andes of the country. Its capital is the city of Ayacucho. The region was one of the hardest hit by terrorism during the 1980s during the guerrilla war waged by Shining Path.

A referendum will be held on October 30, 2005 to decide whether the region will merge with the current regions of Ica and Huancavelica to form the new Ica-Ayacucho-Huancavelica Region, as part of the decentralization process in Peru.

Architecture of Ayacucho

There were two types of architecture of the Ayacucho. The first type of architecture appears to take the form of a communal hut, the second as a ceremonial hut. The communal huts held many tools, plant remains and shallow clay-lined pit which served as braziers. The communal hut usually took on the shape of a rectangle, and were constructed in the following ways.

There were two types of architecture of the Ayacucho. The first type of architecture appears to take the form of a communal hut, the second as a ceremonial hut. The communal huts held many tools, plant remains and shallow clay-lined pit which served as braziers. The communal hut usually took on the shape of a rectangle, and were constructed by placing hardwood planks on the ground and held in there by wooden stakes approximately 1 meter apart. Then small saplings were driven into the ground a meter apart from each other. The saplings were then made to form the frame for the huts and animal skins were then placed atop the frame to form the walls.

The second type of hut had multiple purposes which appear to have been ceremonial in design. The structure was Y-shaped and was placed away from the other huts. Activities that took place within the huts consisted of shamanistic practices, the processing of meat, group feasting and healing practices. Items found within the hut consisted of clay lined braziers, pieces of animal hides, burned reeds and seeds, and several species of medicinal plants including chewed leaves. These huts were constructed by making a foundation of sand and gravel. Upright poles were placed every half meter and acted as a pole frame for the hide coverings. A raised platform in the back of the hut gave the structure it’s “Y” shape. The platform was 3×4 meters high.

Introducation of Ayacucho

Ayacucho is the capital of the department of Ayacucho in Peru. The origin of the name Ayacucho is said to come from words in Quechua that mean “city of the dead”. The city of Ayacucho is located in the central sierra of Peru, 2,761 metres above sea level. It is near three major Peruvian rivers, which border the northern part of the Department of Ayacucho: the Mantaro, Pampas and Apurimac. Near the city is the Picimachay Cave, which has remains more than 15,000 years old. Ayacucho has a current population of 140,500 (2005 estimate), which is an increase from the c. 105,000 measured in the 1993 national census.

The city was founded in 1539 as San Juan de la Frontera de Huamanga by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who chose the location to bridge the distance between Lima, and Cusco. The Frontera (border or frontier) name was an allusion to its then-status as the “last frontier” between conquered Spanish territory and territory still controlled by Manco Capac II and his vassals. Years later, following the eventual defeat of Manco’s vassals, the name was changed to San Juan de la Victoria de Huamanga.

During the Peruvian War of Independence, the area surrounding Ayacucho was the last territory held by the Spaniards. On December 9, 1824, the Battle of Ayacucho, or “La Quinua”, took place at Pampa de La Quinua, few miles away from Ayacucho, near the town of Quinua. This battle - between the royalist (Spanish) and nationalist (republican) troops - sealed the independence of Peru and South America. (more…)