Huaraz
For the Province of the Ancash Region in Peru, see Huaraz Province
Huaraz is a city in Peru. It has a population of approximately 100,000 and is the capital of the Huaraz Province and of the Ancash Region. As such it is the seat of the regional government of Ancash.
Location
Huaraz is located in the central-northern part of the country at an altitude of 3052 m, some 420 km north of Lima. Huaraz sits in the agriculturally important Callejon de Huaylas valley, at the foot of the Cordillera Blanca mountain range, which includes Huascaran, the highest mountain in Peru at 6768 m.
History
In 1538, Francisco Pizarro granted the right to collect taxes in Huaraz to the conquistador Sebastian de Torres. In 1574 Alonso de Santoyo founded the village.
On May 31, 1970 the Ancash earthquake destroyed much of Huaraz, killing 10,000 people. Almost nothing was left of the old city with its narrow streets and big adobe casonas roofed with tiles. The main square was the only major structure that survived the earthquake so the city was rebuilt around it. The old and big casonas were replaced with smaller houses while the old narrow streets were widened as they had proved to be deathtraps during the earthquake.
Communications
Huaraz is connected to the rest of the country through the Panamerican Highway (187km north of Lima) and can be reached from Lima Casma or Chimbote in seven hours. Within about an hour north along the Panamerican Highway the cities of Yungay and Caraz can be reached. A few kilometers to the north of Huaraz lies the small Anta airport which serves small planes from the two largest mining companies in the region as well as the regional airline LC Busre.
Tourism
Huascaran National Park is a popular destination for tourism and trekking. Huaraz is a frequent base for expeditions to the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash.
In the streets sourrounding the farmers' market, the paraditas (street markets) of local sellers offer craft products such as alpaca textiles , cuarteados (a typical dessert from Caraz made by mixing manjarblanco and fruit cake), boxes of manjarblanco, butter, cheese, honey, smoked and salty hams, etc.
External links
http://www.munihuaraz.gob.pe/ Official website
http://www.diablohuaraz.com/ Diablo Club
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Huaraz
