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 irse a Jauja, meaning to go somewhere of ease and plenty, actually predates the town and comes from a Spanish literary land of abundance, though the association stuck. Around the town are Wanka archaeological sites including Tunanmarca on the ridge above.

What you actually see

• 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.

Honest expectations

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.