We are spending some time in Cajamarca which is still high in the mountains but surrounded with farms of dairy cattle – it is apparently famous for its cheese.
The town has an inglorious past. Founded before the Inca took over, Atahualpa ruled the Inca northern empire and Huascar the south with the empire stretching from southern Colombia to central Chile. In 1532, Atahualpa took over the entire empire:
He stopped on his way to Cuzco at the natural thermal springs in this exact spot:
Francisco Pizarro and his force of 168 Spaniards arrived in Cajamarca on 15 November, 1532 and found the city deserted because most of the inhabitants were with Atahualpa at the hot springs.
The Spanish were vastly outnumbered but they planned to entice Atahualpa into the square:
When he arrived, he told most of his men to stay out. To cut a long story short, the Spanish attacked Atahualpa and slaughtered 7000 indigenous people.
Despite building up a ransom of some 6000 kg of gold and 12,000 kg of silver, Atahualpa was let to be burned at the stake in July 1533. At the last minute, he ‘accepted’ baptism and was rewarded with a quicker death by strangulation:
Atahualpa is said to be buried in the Church of San Francisco on the square.
The great stone buildings of the Inka were destroyed and the stones recycled to build Spanish homes and churches. The only Inka building left in Cajamarca is the Ransom Chamber (which they had filled with gold and silver) but we couldn’t go anywhere near it as it’s closed for refurbishment.
So the town is a strange mix of enormous churches and Spanish-looking mansions with a distinctive feeling of indigeneity. One of the buildings, for example, has women with four breasts on it:
We spent much of the day walking around this charming city popping in and out of churches. For example, we saw the sign for this one:
On entering, we were transfixed by the statue (we felt it was okay to take photos as the worshippers were also taking selfies):
The streets are narrow and reminiscent of a kind of cowboy version of Spain:
Our room overlooks the square and, when we were recovering from the visit to Los Banos del Inca, we heard a mariachi band. Looking out, we saw this procession which proceeded round the square:
As for the visit to the baths! Upon arrival, there was an enormous queue so, despite having our swimsuits in our packs, we decided to go for the ‘visita complete’ rather than a soak in a hot tub. The visit was splendid!
So far we have not seen any foreign tourists at all and our trip to the ice-cream shop caused quite a stir, particularly when we said we were from London.
Many women continue to wear traditional dress with the tallest hats imaginable:
And you’ll be pleased to know that I persuaded Sue to pose at Los Banos del Inca – of course – but she refused to get dressed up, even though she had the opportunity.
what an intriguing account of a fabulous place
– always horrible European appropriation with violence
it must feel great to be the only foreigners about
that was how when I visited Cuzco and Machupicchu and other places those many years gone…
I’d have loved to see Sue dressed up! Why the refusal?
This is indeed a wonderful spot – we feel very privileged to be the only non- Peruvians here! In terms of the dressing up, M knows that’s never going to happen – sitting on the throne was really as far as I was ever likely to go…
What a whirlwind! I think Sue poses a fine contrast to the Inka women warriors, and in fact the left topiary seems to be wearing a similar headdress. The pink satin St Sebastian is weirdly splendid – so hard to reconcile this piety with the horrors of Spanish Catholic colonialism and vicious brutality.
Indeed – I can make no sense at all of the St. Sebastian though was delighted when the church attendant ( there’s probably a term) turned on the neon. Weird and wonderful place.
Cajamarca sounds really interesting. The Spanish were such bastards. I think Atahualpa told his men to stay put because the Spanish told him they were only interested in peace. Gullible. The same thing happened in Mexico. I want to know more about the baths! While I think the topiary does look like a duck I’m not sure a duck is worth the effort. Maybe it’s an alpaca? If you squint enough. As an aside, I’m interested in the apparent absence of llamas. I thought we saw far more of these than alpacas.
So many things to respond to! Calamarka indeed fascinating and yes, the Conquistodores really brutal. Not sure about the drop in llama numbers – definitely more alpacas on this trip. The topiary can’t be a duck – what’s the cultural resonance in a duck when you have condors? I mean, really..
Also those hats! I want one
Noted! But unlikely to fit in the carry on sadly..
Loving the murals, disappointed about Sue not dressing up and lo siento for lack of participation in the quiz. Afraid manana, manana has set in xxx
The murals were lovely and reminded me of Mexico – sad colonial stories both. Still a chance with the quiz though think we may have made this one too hard!
Fantastic to be so off the tourist trail. Full of wonderful rewards