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It is the Head of the Department, located 2461 meters above the sea level and has 2919 inhabitants. Its name comes from the tribe that lived here. Later, the town was given as an encomienda to its founder, don Antonio de Argañaráz y Murguía and his heirs.
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According to a Jesuit historian, the town formed by the Tilcara natives was, if not in the same place, at least near it and its foundation goes back near 1586. concerning the primitive inhabitants, no documents were found that refer clearly to their origins. And concerning the religious part, Tilcara has always been considered as a nexus between Humahuaca and Tumbaya.
This little town, with its low constructions and sheer streets with an inclination towards the Rio Grande, has as one of its most interesting tourist attractions the traditional parties calendar, due to all the colorful local parties. The ones who turn out to be more interesting are: The Popular Party of the Tilcareño January (native of Tilcara), in February we have the Pachamama (Mother Earth) Party and the Copleros Meeting (those people who write stanzas) in Purmamarca, the Fiesta de la Chicha and the Topamiento de Comadre (the Midwife) which is carried the previous Thursday to the Carnival and specially Eastern, with the manufacture of Hermitages, beautiful works of craft and devotion, created with flowers, seeds and local fruits. There is a Pilgrimage on Ash Wednesday to the Copacabana Virgin Sanctuary, located 4000 meters above the sea level in Punta Corral. There is a band of sikuris that participates.
Attractions
Tilcara's Pucará
Pucará means in the Quechua tongue "fortified place". It is located 2 Km from the town and is one of the four fortified towns which the native inhabitants of the Humahuaca Gully built on each mounds located on the Rio Grande; from North to South, these pucarás are called Calete, Yacoraite, Campo Morado and Tilcara. There are also other native populations, but they have a difficult access and are located on the plateaus in the transversals valleys.
This Pucará elevates on a hill that emerges 70 m from the river's channel, with a surface of 15 hectares. It was the ideal place to defend oneself from the attacks since you have, on one side the Rio Grande's cliffs, on the other rough hillsides and on the accessible sides the natives had defensive walls. Over these sides they built their houses, in a stepped way, constituting a very difficult target for any thief. Near the foot of the mountain several corrals were built. The first one who dug this place was Juan Ambrosetti (1908), followed by his disciple Salvador de Benedetti, Eduardo Cassanova and Norberto Pelissero. As time passed by, some enclosure groups with low stone walls were restored. As you walk by, you can distinguish the numerous paths, the real streets that join the neighborhoods, carefully built, supported by their own low stone walls or using the houses' ones.
At La Entrada Neighborhood you will find the first simple enclosures with a patio, a bedroom and a round sepulcher in the center of the patio. The church area, called this way by the villagers, formed by areas with patios and corrals, altars and sepulchers of trophies skulls, was, according to some interpretations, a ceremonies center for the worship of the sun and the moon. In the oriental side, there is a necropolis formed by numerous funeral cells and, at 2500 meters above the sea level, there is a monument in the shape of an incomplete pyramid where there rest the remains of Salvador de Benedetti and Eric Boman, two important archaeologists. In the 70's some exhumations were carried out in a landliff and the testimonies found were dated by means of radiocarbon. The results indicated that the remains dated from, at least, the year 900 B.C. In order to get an idea of how the life was in this village, it is very important to visit the Archaeological Museum in Tilcara. At the foot of the mound, there is an interesting Botanical Garden of Height.
"Ernesto Soto Avendaño" Sculptures Museum
This museum remembers the sculptor that made the Independence monuments in Humahuaca. It was inaugurated during the artist's lifetime and exhibits 42 of his original plaster made works.
"Dr. Eduardo Casanova" Archaeological Museum
This museum is a member of Tilcara's Interdisciplinary Institute, and this one depends from the University of Buenos Aires' (UBA) Arts Faculty. Here, you can observe many representative materials of the Pre-Hispanic culture in the Andean area of Tiahuanaco in Bolivia and the Diaguita culture.
"Fundación Hugo Irureta" Fine Arts Museum
it was created in 1987 with the collection of Hugo Irureta himself and other regional, national and international plastic artists. The museum's aim is to promote the North-west's art and culture.
The Hermitages Museum
This original museum exhibits the works made with flowers' petals and fruits' seeds that are sued to represent the different scenes from the Stations of the Cross and other religious allegories.
"Medardo Pantoja" Foundation Museum
As many of the museums in this area, this was originated thanks to the work of Medardo Pantoja (a native from Tilcara). This artist is one of the most representative ones of the Latin-American painting.
The Botanical Garden of Height
In this garden you will find the flora species of the Puna and the Humahuaca Gully.
The Huichairas Archaeological Location
It occupies a small surface, what determines a dense cluster of housings. These houses are made of stone and have a rectangular and single floor. There are remains of paths and discontinuous walls.
La Isla Archaeological Location
There were found remains of houses with stone walls and groups of sculptures that added a total of 300 pieces. This location has 5 different places.
Devil's Throat
It is a profound incision made by the water on the rock, located in the superior channel of the Huasamayo river, from where you will have an splendid view all along the Humahuaca Gully and the Chañi snowcapped mountain.
Source:
Secretaría de Turismo de la Provincia de Jujuy
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