| The
Nasca Lines
Located in the San José Pampas 25 km from Nasca
and about 20 minutes drive (at km 420 of the South Pan-American
Highway). Ancient dwellers from the Nasca culture have
left a valuable archaeological legacy consisting in a
huge network of lines and drawings depicting animals and
plants over an area of approximately 350 km2 spreading
between km 419 to km 465 of the South Pan-American Highway.
Discovered in 1 927 by Toribio Mejía Xesspe, they
have been studied by Paul Kosok, Hans Horkheirmer and,
in particular, María Reiche, a German scientist
who lived in the area for more than 50 years, studying
and investigating their origin.
A flight over the Nasca Lines is an unforgettable experience.
There is also a 12 m high watchtower from where La Mano
(The Hand) and El Árbol (The Tree) figures can
be admired.
Huacachina
Lagoon
Located 5 km southwest of Ica and about 6 minutes drive.
Natural tourist attraction famous for the medicinal properties
of its waters. Its superb landscape is surrounded by high
sandbanks, palm tree groves and age old huarango trees
Town
of Cachiche
Located 4 km south of Ica and about 8 minutes drive. The
town is famous for its witches who have healed all types
of ailments for centuries. There is even a statue allusive
to a with placed on top of a huarango tree trunk at the
town's entrance.
La
Achirana del Inca
Located 18 km northeast of the city of Ica and about 15
minutes drive. An irrigation canal built during the times
of Inca Pachacútec, more than 500 years ago.
Los
Frailes Stone Forest
Located 5 km east of Ica in the district of Parcona and
about 8 minutes drive. These stone formations have adopted
peculiar shapes due to wind erosion. Worthy of note are
a turtle, a monkey head, a chullo (Indian hat), a frog,
a mouse and a fish.
Huaca
Guadalupe
Located in the district of Salas 1 km from the town of
Guadalupe and the South Pan-American Highway at a few
minutes drive. Excavations have revealed a series of structures
in the form of chambers, ramps and platforms from the
Ica and Inca cultures (thirteenth and fifteenth centuries
AD) as well as frescoes on adobe walls depicting stylized
birds in yellow, red, black and white.
Takaraca
Located at km 306 of the South Pan-American Highway and
15 minutes drive from the city of Ica. The oldest citadel
of the Ica Valley was built during the reign of Inca Pachacútec.
The city comprises a number of pyramidal huacas.
Paredones
Located 2 km from Nasca at km 1 of the Nasca-Puquio Highway
and about 4 minutes drive, this Inca administrative center
comprises numerous rooms, terraces, patios and other adobe
constructions erected upon stone foundations of Nasca-culture
buildings.
El
Telar de Cantalloc (Cantalloc Loom)
A large scale geoglyph located 3 km from Nasca and about
8 minutes drive. Known as Complejo Textil (Textile Complex)
for its depiction of weaving instruments such as a needle
and several spirals probably representing yarn skeins.
The
Aqueducts
They belong to the Nasca culture (550 AD) and are located
in the Nasca, Taruga and Las Trancas valleys. These are
really trickle galleries with stone walls and flat rock
or huarango tree beams which, in some cases, run for several
kilometers underground at a depth of 12 m.
Chincha:
Located at km 202 of the South Pan-American Highway, about
2 ½ h drive from Lima. In this pre-Inca site, the
numerous huacas reveal the area was a center of great
activity, in particular Huaca La Centinela, a large scale
construction. Chincha is also the cradle of a culture
developed by the descendants of the slaves that worked
in the cotton fields.
Casa
Hacienda San José
Hacienda San José s/n.
Phone: (034) 22-1488 / 22-1458.
Located 15 km southeast of Chincha in the district of
El Carmen. Ancient country hacienda, a parador that keeps
within its walls the history of Dominicans and Jesuits,
Spanish noblemen, potential filibusters and black slaves
alike. Built in the late seventeenth century, it features
a chapel and and altar of pure Baroque style, beautiful
archways and ample patios displaying old yokes, plows
and cart wheels. One of the main attractions is an underground
gallery along which blindfolded slaves where brought so
they could not escape.
Huaca
La Centinela
Located northwest of Tambo de Mora, 8 km off the South
Pan-American Highway and about 8 minutes drive along a
dirt road. Built by the old Chinchas during the so-called
Late Intermediate period (1 200 AD-1 450 AD). Later the
site sustained some form and functional changes resulting
form the introduction of elements belonging to the Inca
architecture.
Tambo
Colorado Archaeological Remains
An Inca urban and administrative center located in the
Valley of Pisco, near km 45 of Los Libertadores Highway
and about 30 minutes drive. Built during the times of
Inca Pachacútec, this is the best preserved Inca
monument on the coast of Peru. It also provided lodging
to soldiers and dignataries. The name Tambo Colorado comes
from the Quechua word Tampu (resting place) and the Spanish
word colorado (red) which is the color of its walls.
La
Compañía Church
One block from Pisco's Main Square.
Open during Mass hours.
A 1 723 Baroque building with gold leaf altars that houses
beautiful oil paintings belonging to the Cuzco School.
Paracas
National Reserve
Located 250 km south of Lima and about 3 h drive, it spreads
across 335 thousand ha. Established to protect and preserve
endangered animal species, this is the only protected
area in Peru that comprises a marine ecosystem. There
are boat excursions from the port of Paracas to the Ballestas
Islands where sea lions, Humboldt penguins, flamingoes
or pariguanas and seabirds can be closely observed.
El
Candelabro
Located 25 km southwest of the city of Pisco and about
13 minutes drive, this more than 120 m long geoglyph is
best seen from the sea, and for this reason, it is necessary
to take a speedboat departing mainly from Puerto El Chaco
(Paracas). El Candelabro, also known as Tres Cruces (Three
Crosses) or Tridente, is located northwest of the Bay
of Paracas, between the Martín and Talpo beaches.
The
Cathedral
25 km southwest of the city of Pisco, opposite El Candelabro
and about 25 minutes drive. Located between Yumaque and
Supay beaches, this amazing and extraordinary rock formation
results from water and wind erosion. Inside one can find
the "chingungo" or sea cat, an endangered species,
and some marine birds.
Julio
C. Tello Site Museum
Carretera a Pisco - Puerto San Martin km 27, Pisco.
Phone: (034) 23-2881 / 62-0436
Visits: Monday Sunday 9:00-15:00.
Located 15 minutes drive from Pisco, next to the Interpretation
Center for the Paracas National Reserve. The exhibit includes
re-creations of everyday life in ancient Paracas, as well
as collections of ceramics and textiles.
Lost
City of Huayurí
Located within the premises of the former Huayuri hacienda
in the district of Santa Cruz, the city can be reached
taking the road to the town of San Francisco, at km 384
of the South Pan-American Highway and about 18 minutes
drive.
Lines
and Figures of Palpa
Located at km 395 of the South Pan-American Highway and
about 1 h and 15 minutes drive, these lines and figures
can be found in several areas of Palpa such as Sacramento,
Pinchango and Llipata. They are large geometrical drawings
depicting animals and plants.
Chichictara
Petroglyphs
Located 15 km east of the city of Palpa in the hamlet
of Chichictara, about 15 minutes drive.
Bodega
Vista Alegre
(Wine Cellar)
3 km northwest of the city of Ica, in the district of
La Tinguiña.
Phone: (034) 23-2919.
Visits: Monday to Friday 9:00-14:00.
A modern wine and pisco brandy maker. It still shows some
vestiges of Colonial times.
Bodega
Tacama
(Wine Cellar)
10 km north east of Ica in the district of La Tinguiña.
Phone: (034) 22-8395 / 22-8394.
Visits: Monday to Sunday 9:00-15:00.
This winery makes world renowned wines and pisco brandy
with sophisticated equipment while preserving the old
house and stables originally property of the Jesuits.
Bodega
Ocucaje
(Wine Cellar)
Av. Principal, 34 km southwest of the city of Ica
Phone: (034) 40-8001 / 40-8003.
Visits: Monday to Friday 9:00-12:00 and 14:00-17:00, Saturday
9:00-12:00.
The facilities and production of this winery are an example
of Ica's noble and quality wine making traditions.
Elementary
Wineries
Visitors can find elementary wineries that preserve the
traditional art of wine and pisco brandy making (in the
old European style). |
.. 
