Azapa Valley is a fertile and narrow

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Arica y Parinacota Region The Arica y Parinacota Region ( ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Arica Province, Arica and Parinacota Province, Parinacota. It borders Peru's Department of Tacna to the north, Bolivia's La ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. It is framed between two arid hills and divided by the San Jose River that runs during the summer season. It is located from the city of

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the ca ...

. This jewel of the north has a unique climate that permits the farming of a great variety of fruits and vegetables throughout the year. This is in addition to the unique Azapa

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

s, renowned for their violet color and bitter flavor that also yield a hearty oil.

Areas of interest

Archaeology

Some of the world's oldest

mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...

from the Chinchorro culture are in the Museo Arqueológico San Miguel de Azapa in Arica. Many ruins of the Chiribaya culture (900 to 1400 CE) are in the Azapa Valley.

Parinacota

One of Azapa's more interesting places is the

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

resort town of

Parinacota Parinacota (in Hispanicized spelling), Parina Quta or Parinaquta ( Aymara, ''parina'' flamingo, ''quta'' lake, "flamingo lake", other Hispanicized spellings ''Parinaccota, Parinajota'') may refer to: Lakes * Parinaquta (Carabaya), in Peru, Puno ...

, a town full of craftsmen. From Halles Street to passages around the Manuel Castillo Ibaceta roundhouse, one may find a diverse array of

crafts A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

available to

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

(and crafted on-site) of stone sculpture and wood, archaeological reproductions, ocarinas, archaeological ceramics from the north of Chile, designs on fabric, weavings, seaweed, utilitarian and decorative ceramics, as well as crafts and sculptures in metals. The rest of the region offers other attractions, such as Chuño Hill, a place of many petroglyphs, and the Gorge of Acha, with its geoglyphs and their prehistoric camps.

Cerro Sombrero

Another location, the Cerro Sombrero (Hat Hill) boasts geoglyphs and a pre-Hispanic village perched on the side of the hill and made up of wood dwellings surmounting natural stone terraces. Historical studies have indicated that this establishment had as many as 500 houses between 1000 and 1400 A.D., a significant era of regional developments within Arica culture. The occupants of these constructs were agriculturists who maintained a substantial commercial exchange with Andean highland people. This commerce took place by means of

llama The llama (; or ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with ...

caravans, which brought products of the highlands such as

charqui Jerky is lean trimmed meat strips which are dehydrated to prevent spoilage and seasoned to varying degrees. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt to prevent microbial growth through osmosis. The word "jerky" derives from the ...

, quínoa,

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

, etc., down into the lowlands. This merchandise was traded for the products made by the populations of the low, coastal valleys: maize, red pepper, fish and seafood. Atoca, figures made of stone, represent a typical caravan of llamas with their guide, preceded by two dancers with anthropomorphous characteristics, and depict scenes of the caravan traffic that was carried out between coastal peoples and the peoples of the highlands. Among sacred hills in the region of Pampas Alto Ramirez are impressive geoglyphs and other artifacts memorialize diverse settlements from the beginnings of agriculture to the present time. The panel of geoglyphs corresponds to the time of

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

regional influence and development (1,000 - 1,400 AD) and human and animal figures of the area: camelidaes, serpents, lizards, etc.

San Miguel de Azapa Knolls

Type of grave in the form of little hills (túmulos) through the successive accumulation of layers of sand and vegetal fiber litter.

Alto Ramirez

(400 belongs to the cultural phase a.C. - 400 d.C.)

San Miguel de Azapa

This town is located about from Arica and is surrounded by beautiful agricultural environs; it survives as a breeding ground of subtropical plants, túmulos and features the Archaeological Museum of San Miguel de Azapa, a museum associated with the Universidad de Tarapacá. This museum presents a complete vision of the cultural and anthropological development of the region for the past 10,000 years.

Chinchorro mummies The Chinchorro mummies are mummified remains of individuals from the South American Chinchorro culture, found in what is now northern Chile. They are the oldest examples of artificially mummified human remains, having been buried up to two thou ...

are exhibited in the museum. A visit here allows knowing some of the histories of this corner of the world.

Las Peñas of Livilcar Sanctuary

Located approximately from Arica, it is the scene of the celebration of the

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

of the

Rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

of Las Peñas (The Rocks), a celebration which happens between the first Sunday of October and December 8 of every year. (but in all honesty, we know nothing about them)

References

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