Callalli District is one of twenty

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

of the Caylloma Province in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and is located within the geographical area of the

Colca Canyon The Colca Canyon is a canyon of the Colca River in southern Peru, located about northwest of Arequipa. With a depth of about 1000 – 2000 m (3300 – 6600 ft) (whereas bottom is at cca 2000 m and edges are at 3000 – 4000 metres above t ...

. Its capital, Callalli, lies on an ancient trade route for

Obsidian Obsidian ( ) is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Produced from felsic lava, obsidian is rich in the lighter element ...

that ran from

Chivay Chivay is a town in the Colca valley, capital of the Caylloma province in the Arequipa region, Peru. Located at about 3,600 m above sea level (12,000 ft), it lies upstream of the renowned Colca Canyon. It has a central town square and an act ...

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...

around 1800-200BC. The earliest findings in the region, carvings of camelids in the Mollupunko Cave, date around 8,000 years back. The town of Callalli was founded as a Spanish Reduccion in 1573 with the initial name of ''Alcantara de Callalli''. Callalli is the main seat of a catholic pastoral team that takes care of a 7,000 km² area including the towns of Callalli, Sibayo, Tisco, Imata and Caylloma. The parish is led by the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n priest and missionary Franz Windischhofer since 1991, whose work was acknowledged by the Peruvian government for "building a community of peace" in Peru since 1980.

Geography

One of the highest mountains of the district is Waran K'anthi at approximately . Other mountains are listed below:

Tourism

*Alpaca Fair, a Caylloma Province regional fair of

Alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. Traditionally, alpacas were kept in herds that grazed on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile. More recentl ...

breeders convening in Callalli each June to present their alpacas. *Mollepunko Caves, a rocky shelter and shallow cave system dating from about 6000 years BC, featuring more than 20 carved

cave painting In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric art, prehistoric origin. These paintings were often c ...

s. Said paintings, made by pre-Inca inhabitants, show the early domestication of

Camelid Camelids are members of the biological family (biology), family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant taxon, extant members of this group are: dromedary, dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bac ...

s among other figures. The caves were probably used for rituals in the pre-Inca era, and as a grave site after the Incas. Local legends point to an

Inca Empire 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 ...

treasure being buried close to a large black boulder, as one of the abandoned deliveries of gold to buy free

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...

after his execution. Multiple excavation attempts - including an intact, 3m long tunnel in front of the caves and a 2.5m deep man-made ravine under the large boulder, point to

treasure hunting Treasure hunting is the physical search for treasure. One of the most popular types of modern day treasure hunters are historic shipwreck salvors. These underwater treasure salvors try to find sunken Shipwreck, shipwrecks and retrieve artifacts ...

having taken place. *Enchanted Castles of Callalli, a rock formation featuring jagged boulders directly above the city of Callalli. *Banos Termales de Inca, a thermal bath complex between Callalli and Sibayo. *Choqueshisha, a ritual site inside of Callalli where local women thank

Pachamama Pachamama is a goddess revered by the Indigenous peoples of the Andes. In Inca mythology she is an " Earth Mother" type goddess, Dransart, Penny. (1992) "Pachamama: The Inka Earth Mother of the Long Sweeping Garment." ''Dress and Gender: Makin ...

for the gift of water with a sacrifice 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 ...

fat, corn and other local products once a year. * Puente de Pachachaca, colonial bridge built with ashlars made of volcanic material and boulder. On the road from Cápac Ñan that runs from

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...

and on the

Colca River Colca River (possibly from Quechua ''qullqa'' deposit) which downstream is called Majes and Camaná is a Peruvian river in the Arequipa Region that flows deep in the rugged Andes of southern Peru. It originates south-east of the village Janq'u La ...

. The bridge is featured on the upper right part of the coat of arms of Callalli. * Iglesia Callalli de San Antonio de Padua, a Catholic parish church under the patronage of

San Antonio de Padua San Antonio de Padua, or plainly Padua, is a city in the Greater Buenos Aires, in Argentina. It is located in Merlo Partido. The city has an area of and a population of around 38,000. The name commemorates the village founded by Francisco de M ...

, built in an

Andean Baroque Andean Baroque (Spanish: ''Barroco andino'' or ''arquitectura mestiza'') is an artistic movement that appeared in colonial Peru between 1680 and 1780. It is located geographically between Arequipa and Lake Titicaca in what is now Peru, where rul ...

style, located in the town center of Callalli. It features a cross-shaped blueprint and a baptistry, two symmetrical towers on the sides and a vaulted roof. Inside are artworks depicting the miracles of San Antonio. *Chulpas Tahuaya, an above-ground, Pre-Inca grave site featuring four small stone buildings that contain well-preserved bones and skulls. *Llapa Yanahuara, an Collagua-Inca-Colonial town, with a church built on top of a pre-Hispanic

Huaca In the Quechuan languages of South America, a huaca or wak'a is an object that represents something revered, typically a monument of some kind. The term ''huaca'' can refer to natural locations, such as immense rocks. Some huacas have been asso ...

. *Ventana del Colca, a rock formation in the form of a window as a natural entrance to the valley and

. *Choqolaqa, a large rock formation about 2 hours outside of Callalli, belonging to the district of Tisco, featuring white towers of eroded rocks. A road leads up to an altitude of 4700m; the rock formation itself can be reached after a short hike at an altitude of 4950m. File:The Callalli church, Iglesia de Antonio de Padua.jpg, Iglesia Callalli de San Antonio de Padua File:Colca-canyon-rock-formation-callalli.jpg, Rock formation a few minutes outside of Callalli File:Alpaca-herding-Mollepunko-caves-callalli.jpg, A herd of alpacas grazing outside of the Mollepunko caves close to Callalli File:Condor flying over the Colca canyon in Peru.jpg, A

Condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua language, Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. One species, the And ...

flying over the

File:Enchanted Castles of Callalli los castillos encantados.jpg, The "Enchanted Castles of Callalli" above Callalli File:Callalli-peru-mountains-city-aerial-view.jpg, Callalli as seen from the air File:Callalli-church-san-antonio-de-padua-iglesia1.jpg, The Callalli Church with rock formation in the background File:Mollepunko-caves-callalli-cave-paintings-carvings-6000bc-colca-canyon.jpg, Mollepunko Caves outside of Callalli in the Colca Canyon

Ethnic groups

The people in the district are mainly

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

citizens of

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...

descent.

is the language which the majority of the population (62.06%) learnt to speak in childhood, 37.48% of the residents started speaking using the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

language (

2007 Peru Census The 2007 Peru Census was a detailed enumeration of the Peruvian population. It was conducted by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática on Sunday, October 21, 2007. Its full name in Spanish is XI Censo de Población y VI de Vivie ...

).inei.gob.pe
INEI, Peru, Censos Nacionales 2007, Frequencias: Preguntas de Población: Idioma o lengua con el que aprendió hablar (in Spanish)

References

{{coord, 15.5073, S, 71.4462, W, source:wikidata, display=title Districts of the Caylloma province Districts of the Department of Arequipa