Santa Rosa de Ocopa is the name of a

district 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 o ...

of Concepción province, Department of Junin in

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 ...

. It is also the name of the capital of the district, and the name of a historic monastery in the district called the Convent of Santa Rosa de Ocopa. In 2017, the district had a population of 2,129 and an area of . The capital of the district, the town of Santa Rosa, had a population of 1,263 in 2017 and an elevation of above sea level. The name "Ocopa" comes from the

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 ...

"ocupi," meaning "within" or "corner." Santa Rosa de Ocopa is located in the

Mantaro Valley The Mantaro Valley, also known as Jauja Valley, is a fluvial inter-Andean valley of Junin region, east of Lima, the capital of Peru. The Mantaro River flows through the fertile valley which produces potatoes, maize, and vegetables among othe ...

. The valley has a large area of

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...

, unusual in the high altitudes of the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. Dating back to Pre-Columbian times, the Mantaro Valley has been a breadbasket for the people of the Andes.''Land Use in the Andes: Ecology and Agriculture in the Madero Valley of Peru'' (1979), International Potato Center, p. 15

Convent of Santa Rosa de Ocopa

Santa Rosa was a place of importance after the Franciscans established the

Convent of Santa Rosa de Ocopa Santa Rosa de Ocopa is the name of a district of Concepción province, Department of Junin in Peru. It is also the name of the capital of the district, and the name of a historic monastery in the district called the Convent of Santa Rosa de Ocop ...

in 1725 as a college of missionaries with the objective of converting to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

the

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

living in 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 ...

, especially in the

Cerro de la Sal The Cerro de la Sal or Cerro de Sal, (''Mountain of Salt'') is located in Villa Rica District of Oxapampa Province in Pasco Department, Peru. The Cerro de la Sal was an important source of salt for the pre-Columbian indigenous people of the ...

and the

Gran Pajonal The Gran Pajonal (Great Scrubland or Great Savanna) is an isolated interfluvial plateau in the Amazon Basin of Peru. It is located in the departments of Ucayali, Pasco and Junín. The plateau is inhabited by the Asháninka or Ashéninka people ...

regions. The convent is located in the northern outskirts of the town of Santa Rosa. In the 21st century, the extensive compound making up the convent houses a museum with a library of 25,000 volumes, some from the 15th century, a large collection of paintings, many of them dating to the 18th century, and a natural history museum. The convent is a popular tourist destination. At the height of its importance about 1800, Ocopa was the "largest missionary operation in the Americas, serving more than seventy parishes and missions over a vast swath of South America." Three hundred and two of the missionaries assigned to the Ocopa convent during the 18th and early 19th century were Spanish-born and they constituted the great majority of all the Ocopa missionaries. The Spanish influence caused political problems for the convent during the independence movements in South America. On 1 November 1824, revolutionary leader

Simon Bolivar Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

captured the convent and confiscated its wealth and arrested the missionaries. The convent was reconstituted in 1836, but had lost its importance. Image: image: image:OCOPA 5.jpg , The statue of Santa Rosa image:Cross in Santa Rosa de Ocopa Peru.jpg, The first station of the cross image:Entrada al Museo del Convento de Ocopa.jpg, A cloister near the entrance image:Claustro del Olivo del Convento de Ocopa.jpg , The Olive Cloister image:Capilla de ocopa.jpg, The chapel with the remains of the founder. image:Pinacoteca-Santa-Rosa-de-Ocopa.jpg , The art gallery image:Cupula de la Iglesia de Ocopa.jpg , The dome of the church. image:Organo del Convento de Ocopa.jpg, The organ in the church

The Ruins of Ocupi

Located a few yards from the convent are the ruins of Ocupi, an archaeological site of the Huanca dating from 1100 CE to 1470 CE.

References

{{Authority control Tourist attractions in Junín Region Junín Region Religious buildings and structures in Peru Franciscan monasteries in Peru

Convent of Santa Rosa de Ocopa

The Ruins of Ocupi

See also

References