San Francisco de Tilcara (usually referred to as Tilcara) is a city in the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...
, Argentina, and the head town of the
Tilcara Department. It had 6,249 inhabitants at the . Traces of human habitation in the area date back more than 10,000 years, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements of Argentina.
Tilcara is located 84 km from the provincial capital,
San Salvador de Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...
, beside
National Route 9, at about 2,500 m above sea level, well within the first heights 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 ...
.
The area features dramatic mountainous landscapes and rich aboriginal traditions, which make it a major tourist attraction in northwestern Argentina, with several nearby hiking tracks also attracting visitors.
Possibly the biggest attraction in Tilcara is the nearby
Pucará de Tilcara
The Pucará de Tilcara is a pre-Inca fortification or '' pukara'' located on a hill just outside (approximately a 15-minute walk) the small town of Tilcara, in the Argentine province of Jujuy. The location was strategically chosen to be easily def ...
, the partially reconstructed ruins of a pre-Inca ''
pukara
Pukara (Aymara and Quechuan "fortress", Hispanicized spellings ''pucara, pucará'') is a defensive hilltop site or fortification built by the prehispanic and historic inhabitants of the central Andean area (from Ecuador to central Chile and no ...
'',
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 ...
for "fortress",
located a few kilometers away from the city of Tilcara on a hill with an impressive view of the valley of the Río Grande.
Calle de Tilcara, Jujuy, Argentina.jpg, Calle de Tilcara
Pucará de Tilcara, Argentina 06.jpg, Pucará de Tilcara
The Pucará de Tilcara is a pre-Inca fortification or '' pukara'' located on a hill just outside (approximately a 15-minute walk) the small town of Tilcara, in the Argentine province of Jujuy. The location was strategically chosen to be easily def ...
Jardin Botanico de Altura 01.jpg, Jardín Botánico de Altura
Climate
*
Köppen classification Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author an ...
: ''BWk'' (
Cool Arid Climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
)
* Thermal amplitude:
* Maximum average temperature: (January)
*Average minimum temperature: (July)
*Average annual temperature: between
*Average annual rainfall: (almost entirely between November and March)
References
*
* Civitas/PSI
Tilcara(portal).
* WelcomeArgentina
(general and touristic information).
Populated places in Jujuy Province
{{Jujuy-geo-stub