Parinacota is a

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 ...

an hamlet in

Putre Putre is a Chilean town and commune, capital of the Parinacota Province in the Arica-Parinacota Region. It is located east of Arica, at an altitude of . The town is backdropped by Taapaca volcanic complex. Putre is on the edge of the Lauca Na ...

Parinacota Province Parinacota Province ( es, Provincia de Parinacota) is one of two provinces of the Chilean region of Arica y Parinacota. Its capital is Putre. It is named after the Parinacota Volcano. History Arica y Parinacota Region was created on October 8, 2 ...

Arica and 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, Boliv ...

Location

It is situated on the highlands at an elevation of in

Lauca National Park Lauca National Park is located in Chile's far north, in the Andean range. It encompasses an area of 1,379 km2 of altiplano and mountains, the latter consisting mainly of enormous volcanoes. Las Vicuñas National Reserve is its neighbour to ...

near the small town of

and had 29 inhabitants as of 2002.

Church

The church was built in the 17th century in the form of a central nave with two side chapels. The walls are made of stone and clay and are supported by exterior arches of unmortared stone. The floor is brick with a central band of stone. Originally there was no choir. A choir without railing was built later-on whereas one of the most interesting frescoes of the area, the ''Last Judgment'' was destroyed. The atrium is surrounded by a clay wall on which are situated several figures made of red stone: A bishop, lilies, phalli and others. The square tower was rebuilt in 1789 and painted with white lime. Noteworthy are the frescoes in the interior which were painted in water colors by Indians in the Andean baroque of the 17th century. The ''Last Judgment'' suggests that only women were condemned. The archangel St. Michael weighs a nude woman on a scale and there are trails to get to the purgatory, over clouds to heaven as well as stairs to the mouth of a dragon which leads to hell, where there are several torture instruments. The condemned women walk or are dragged by the hair or are ridden by demons. One of them leads the helpers of evil with a broad smile, not knowing what awaits her.

Climate

Parinacota has an

alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical weather (climate) for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions o ...

(Köppen classification ''ETH''). Due to its high elevation, there is high

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak da ...

. It has cool daily maxima throughout the year due to its high elevation, but minima are below freezing for the entire year, and frigid during the bone-dry,

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

from April to November. Precipitation is low and falls almost entirely between December and March: for the remainder of the year it totals just over eight months.

References

{{reflist Hamlets in Chile Populated places in Parinacota Province

Location

Church

Climate

See also

References