Huaytará Church

The church of San Juan Bautista de Huaytará is built directly onto an Inca structure, and unusually the Inca work is not merely a foundation - the lower walls of the church are the temple, standing to a considerable height in fitted ashlar, with the original trapezoidal niches and double-jambed doorways preserved inside the building and visible from within. The masonry is of Cusco quality, which is notable this far from the capital, and it is thought to have been an important temple or royal building on the road between the coast and the highlands. The colonial church was raised on top in the sixteenth century, and the two are now inseparable. Huaytará is a small town on the road from Pisco up to Ayacucho, at about 2,700 metres, and the church is on its square. Behind and above the town are further Inca remains including baths and terracing.

What you actually see

• The Inca walls - fitted ashlar standing high, forming the lower church.
• The niches - original trapezoidal recesses and doorways visible inside.
• The quality - Cusco-grade masonry far from the Inca capital.
• The upper remains - baths and terracing on the slope above the town.

When to go

May to September. Thirty to sixty minutes. The church may be locked outside service times - ask locally for the key.

Honest expectations

Often closed; access depends on finding whoever holds the key. The Inca fabric is inside, so a locked door means seeing nothing of the point. Facilities in Huaytará are limited. It is a stop on a long mountain road, not a destination in itself.

Nearby

The road climbs to Ayacucho east; Pisco and the coast are west.