Jauja

Pizarro founded Jauja as the first Spanish capital of Peru in 1534, and the seat moved to Lima the following year because the coast served shipping better - a decision that left Jauja a provincial town with an unusual footnote in the record. It sits at 3,400 metres in the Mantaro valley, with a colonial church on the square, a Wednesday and Sunday market, and the Laguna de Paca just outside. Jauja's dry, thin air gave it a nineteenth and twentieth-century reputation as a place to send tuberculosis patients, and sanatoria operated here for decades. The Spanish expression país de Jauja, a land of milk and honey, takes its name from the town. Around the town are Wanka archaeological sites including Tunanmarca on the ridge above.

History

Before the Inca the area belonged to the Xauxa-Wanka confederation, and the Inca made Hatun Xauxa a provincial centre on the royal road from Cusco to Quito; when the emperor Wayna Qhapaq died in Quito, his body paused at Xauxa on its way to Cusco. Jauja was briefly the capital of Spanish Peru before Lima, and its name lives on in the Spanish phrase país de Jauja, a land of milk and honey (Wikipedia, Jauja).

What to look for

• The 1534 foundation - the first Spanish capital, before the seat moved to Lima.
• The market - Wednesday and Sunday in the town centre.
• The sanatorium history - a century of tuberculosis treatment in the dry highland air.
• The Wanka sites - Tunanmarca and others on the ridges around.

When to go

May to September. Market days are Wednesday and Sunday. A day, or a base for Tunanmarca and Laguna de Paca.

Good to know

Little is preserved from the 1534 foundation - the claim is historical rather than visible. At 3,400 metres. Tourist facilities are limited and most visitors pass through to Huancayo. The church keeps irregular hours.

Nearby

Laguna de Paca is just outside; Tunanmarca is on the ridge north.

Key facts