The Pongo de Manseriche is a gorge in northwest

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. The

Marañón River , name_etymology = , image = Maranon.jpg , image_size = 270 , image_caption = Valley of the Marañón between Chachapoyas ( Leimebamba) and Celendín , map = Maranonrivermap.png , map_size ...

runs through this gorge (and

water gap A water gap is a gap that flowing water has carved through a mountain range or mountain ridge and that still carries water today. Such gaps that no longer carry water currents are called wind gaps. Water gaps and wind gaps often offer a prac ...

) before it reaches the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

. The Pongo ('gate' in

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

) de Manseriche is 3 miles (4.8 km) long, located at 4° 27′ 30″ south latitude and 77° 34′ 51″ west longitude, just below the mouth of the Río Santiago, and between it and the old missionary station of Borja. According to Captain Carvajal, who descended the Pongo in the little steamer ''Napo,'' in 1868, it is a vast rent in the Andes about deep, narrowing in places to a width of only , the precipices "seeming to close in at the top." Through this dark canyon the Marañón leaps along, at times, at the rate of . The Pongo de Manseriche was first discovered (by Europeans) by the spanish ''

Adelantado ''Adelantado'' (, , ; meaning "advanced") was a title held by Spanish nobles in service of their respective kings during the Middle Ages. It was later used as a military title held by some Spain, Spanish ''conquistadores'' of the 15th, 16th and 17 ...

'' and conqueror

Juan de Salinas y Loyola Juan de Salinas y Loyola (1492–19 January 1582) was a Spanish discoverer, conqueror and hidalgo belonging to the Alava branch of the House Hoñaz y Loyola of Azpeitia. He was the governor of Yaguarzongo and Bracamoros and the ''adelantado'' ...

. He fitted out an expedition at Loja in Ecuador, descended the Rio Santiago to the Marañón, passed through the Pongo in 1557 and invaded the country of the

Maina Indians The Maina or Meena are a group of indigenous peoples living along the north bank of the Marañón River in South America. They spoke varieties of the Omurano language. The Maina were among the first tribes of the upper Amazon region to have been ev ...

. Later, the missionaries of

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Peru ...

and

Cusco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the list of cities in Peru, seventh m ...

established many missions in the Maynas, and made extensive use of the Pongo de Manseriche as an avenue of communication with their several convents on the

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...

plateau. According to their accounts, the huge rent in the Andes, the Pongo, is about five or six miles (10 km) long, and in places not more than 80 feet (25 m) wide, and is a frightful series of torrents and whirlpools interspersed with rocks. There is an ancient tradition of the indigenous people of the vicinity that one of their gods descended the Marañón and another ascended the Amazon to communicate with him. They opened the pass called the Pongo de Manseriche.

External links

{{Authority control Canyons and gorges of Peru Landforms of Amazonas Region Water gaps