Azapa Valley is a fertile and narrow

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

Arica y Parinacota Region The Arica y Parinacota Region ( es, link=no, Región de Arica y Parinacota ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Arica and Parinacota. It borders Peru's Department of Tacna to the north, Bolivi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. It is framed between two sere 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 Communes of Chile, 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 ...

. 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'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

s, renowned for their violet color and bitter flavor that also gives birth to 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 organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furth ...

from the

Chinchorro culture The Chinchorro culture of South America was a preceramic culture that lasted from 9,100 to 3,500 years BP (7,000 to 1,500 BCE). The people forming the Chinchorro culture were sedentary fishermen inhabiting the Pacific coastal region of current ...

are in the Museo Arqueológico San Miguel de Azapa in Arica. Many ruins of the

Chiribaya culture The Chiribaya culture flourished near the coast of southern Peru and adjacent Chile from 700 CE until Spanish settlement in the late 16th century. The classic phase of the Chiribaya culture was from 1000 CE until 1360 CE. The Chiribaya culture co ...

(900 to 1400 CE) are in the Azapa Valley.

Parinacota

One of Azapa's more interesting places is the hometown of artisan Jose Raul Naranjo Meneses, 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 ...

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 R ...

, a town full of

craftsmen Craftsman may refer to: A profession *Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative * Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take ...

. 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 prod ...

available to

tourists Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

(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. Also, a regionally famous restaurant, "the Inn", offers typical Chilean meals as well as international cuisine. It is open Monday through Sunday, 9:30am to 1:30pm (closed for

siesta A ''siesta'' (from Spanish, pronounced and meaning "nap") is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in some countries, particularly those in warm-weather zones. The ...

!)and 3:30pm to 8:00pm. 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 (; ) (''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 othe ...

caravans, which brought products of the highlands such as

charqui Jerky is lean trimmed meat cut into strips and dried (dehydrated) to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt to prevent bacteria growth before the meat has finished the dehydrating process. The word "jerky" derive ...

, quínoa,

wool Wool is the textile fibre 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 properties similar to animal wool. As ...

, 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 (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

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 Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

. 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 thous ...

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 the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

of the

Rosary The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

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

{{coord, 18, 31, 2, S, 70, 11, 31, W, source:eswiki_region:CL, display=title Landforms of Arica y Parinacota Region Oases of Chile Localities irrigated by puquios