Balconies at Campanario Mount

The oreols are one of the best attractions of Ayabaca City.

 

Photograph and graphic production by Franco Alburqueque

 

 AYABACA, Peru – What do you do when your city is almost at the summit of a mountain and you have an ideal landscape for a postcard around? Easy! You set up safe spaces for the contemplation to be a free show everytime a day, or at least when there is sunlight.

 

Three decades ago, that happened in Ayabaca City. Located almost at the top of Campanario Mount (also known as Calvario), depending on the place where you are, you have one of the best panoramic views of Piura’s Andes, and with a visibility ideal for a bird. The city is 8963 feet above sea level, and it has the record to be the highest capital city in Piura Department, whether province’s or district’s.

 

You can get to Ayabaca City taking a car, truck, or a microbus at a stop in Sullana Avenue, Piura City, or some stops along Buenos Aires Avenue, Sullana City. Departures are available early morning and early afternoon. Overnights are available some weekends. It’s better if you buy your ticket at least three hours before, but cars and go out when the passengers number is full. Even you can hire those last ones as your private transportation.

 

 The lady of the swamp

Why is Ayabaca where it is? The most significant clue is located in the Cathedral next to the Main Square, what is the home of one of the most loved images of Peruvian Northern – Señor Cautivo (Captive Christ). But, although we honor Him, He’s not the reason why the existence of the city in this mountain.

 

Actually, we look for a little granite statue, suspiciously eastern-oriented. The legend tells that a girl ssheperded her cattle at a swamp wwhen suddenly she met a beautiful lady holding a baby boy. They dedicated most of the time to play, and that delayed the return to home. The girl’s father disliked these delays and he decided to question her.

 

The detail was the girl never wondered the lady’s name and that information hole turned into a father’s order. The next meeting, from game to game, she asked her name. “I’m the Virgin of the Pilar,”  Quite innocent, the girl told it to his father who, understanding the range of the visitor, organized the neighbours to trap Her.

 

The experience was frustrating and tiring. Despite they got to have Her as a hostage during the daytime, She vanished at nighttime, and the re-trappings repeated for a long time. In that hurry, the Lady met the girl: “I’ll dry this swamp and I’ll make here to build a chapel for Me.”  She finished to talk and turned the granite statue that sees to the east.

 

And what is just in front of the image? Balcon Mount, which slopes had the first Ayabaca town, and which vestiges have been deleted by the time. Some Ayabaca-native teachers suggest the legend explains the migration from Balcon Mount to Campanario Mount because of the need to have cooler lands where they could harvest other type of food and keep it for a longer time.

 

 The circuit of oreols

To contemplate Balcon Mount, just get out the Cathedral, cross the Centenario Square, take the first street at the right side –Arequipa—and go up an oreol. Orienting just to the east, you can see three-summit low range. The right’s one is Granadillo [Granadiyo], also known as Piedra del Chivo [Peeedra del Cheevo] (Goat’s Rock), the center’s one is Aypate [Aiipaté], and the left’s one is Balcon. Then, it’s not casuality that the primal Ayabaca Downtown is oriented to that landmark.

 

But, it’s not the only one to appreciate. Along Arequipa Street, other two oreols are consecutive allowing beautiful views of the city and the Andean Range in the background, wwhich branches penetrate in Ecuador.

 

There is another landmark where a postcard almost like a bird is taken from. Finishing Arequipa Street, and where it joins Piura Street, it’s the Cruz de Palo Blanco (White-Stick Cross – see its picture in the beginning of this entry) that it’s not a stick neither it’s white. In his western side, it’s possible to have an outstanding view of Valleys of Mangas and Olleros [Oyeros] like a dive, for joining Santa Rosa Valley that comes from Pacaipampa District to form Quiroz River, more than 3300 feet below, 30 miles in a plain line from this point.

 

The Cruz de Palo Blanco is on Piura Street, that continues to be the in-&-out way of the city. The slope that separates it from Arequipa Street has been used to install a mural dedicated to Aypate Inca citadel, possibly built the second half of 15^th century. Although the construction is not visible from Ayabaca City (but the mount where it is located, indeed), the mural seems to be oriented to its geographic location.

 

One block away the cross and the mural and next to a hermitage, it’s Don Teffo’s Bakery, one of the most remarkable ones in the city because it prepares this daily food trending most to the sweet instead of the salty or the neutral like at the lowlands. Going up Piura Avenue, it’s still possible to see the traditional gabled houses with roof tiles hiding the soberado or loft, woody balconies, and high sidewalks.

 

From Banco de la Nación facility, the Street becomes narrow until leading to the Main Square, where the tour started. It’s the same route that Señor Cautivo’s procession does every October 13^th and January 1^st, and Virgin of the Pilar every October 14^th.

 

 The core of everything

The Main Square also has its attractions, from the Town Hall with his tower which clock uses to be out of time or out of service, and its walls decorated with the other district’s icon – Samanga Petroglyphs. The roundabout, that is a recent construction, is next to a walnut tree that is more than one hundred years old.

 

Around this rectangle, diverse hotels and transportation agencies are located, and the Museum of Ayavaca is half a block away, a private entrepreneurship made with many features that a municipal administration decided to miss into a store room. The problem is if the person in charge of is not available, it won’t be possible to visit. The museum has a brief of almost 10,000 years of history in two rooms.

 

Ever taking the Main Square as a reference, if the legs resist you and the air doesn’t lack to you, you can hike to the cross at Calvario Mount (visible from the Main Square), where the best view of the district is taken from. Going it down, it’s the road to Pampa de Lobo, ¾ of mile away the Main Square, what you can get back after take a walk around the city, and maybe making a stop by the local market store.

 

Ever orient with the Town Hall’s tower or the Cathedral’s two ones, so you won’t be lost. You can ask the people as well, and they kindly wil give you directions to get wherever you want.

 

 The cold is not the worst

The only bad one of Ayabaca is the presence of drug trafficking, so be careful of who you get related to. The best advise here is not accepting packages from unknown people and carry your identifications wherever, whenever.

 

The worst time to visit the city is in October when Señor Cautivo Festivity is up. Everything rises double and it’s ever full. The best time to go is between May and September, and around the year preferently when it’s not raining, although that news won’t be nice for many locals who depend on agriculture.

 

The Tourism Office doesn’t use to be open on weekends neither holidays, when most visitors arrive. So, take care of yourself or ask us at factortierra@gmail.com or leave us a comment in the box below. About the remaining, if you want to rest, the Main Square is a good choice, or if you don’t like the average temperature of 77°F during daytime and 50°F during nighttime, it would be better to drink a legitimate stile coffee in the cafeteria of Oro Verde Hostel or the nearby Tradiciones Ayabaquinas [Tradiseeonés Ayabakinas], with a tasty corn tamal that is called zambaté here. Delicious.

 

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