HUARAZ: THE HEART OF THE ANDES
Posted on | October 16, 2009 | Comments Off
Huaraz is located in the region of Ancash. It is the most important city in the “Callejon de Huaylas”; also know as “Beautiful Prairie”. The Callejon is 432.99 km.2 long and is made up of two mountain ranges: The Cordillera Negra and The Cordillera Blanca, the latter considered the highest in the world. One of the mountains that draw more visitors is The Huascaran (22,204.72 ft.a.s.l.). This snow capped mountain is called “The Ceiling of Peru” for being the second highest in South America. In Pre Columbian times, the territory was the
cradle of Chavin de Huantar, an archeological complex made of stone where you can find the Cabezas Clavas (keystones of projecting blocks shaped as human heads), litho sculptures that have human and animal features, and the Lanzon Monolitico, a 5 meter-high dagger like
rock. Chavin de Huantar was declared Mankind’s Historical Monument in 1985. If you come to Huaraz, do not miss the interesting collection of stone monoliths and other pieces of high historical value exhibited at the Ancash Archeologique Museum on the Main Square. Also take
the time to visit Caraz and Carhuaz two small towns to the north of the city. One of the more visited lagoons is Llanganuco, famous for its beautiful forest of quinoa and puya Raimondi. Here the visitor can camp and do adventure sports.