Maras Village

Maras is on the plateau at 3,380 metres between Chinchero and the edge of the Sacred Valley, and almost every vehicle that passes is going to the salt ponds below or to Moray, so the town itself gets a few minutes at most. It is worth more. Maras was a place of some standing in the colonial period - the salt made it prosperous - and its adobe houses carry carved stone doorways with coats of arms, dates and religious devices above the lintels, a concentration of them along the older streets, the legacy of families who wanted their status recorded on the front of the house. The church of San Francisco de Asís on the square holds colonial paintings. The town is quiet, working, largely unrestored, with dogs and adobe walls and views to the snow peaks, and it takes half an hour to walk.

What you actually see

• The carved doorways - colonial lintels with coats of arms and dates.
• The adobe streets - a working highland town, largely unrestored.
• The church - San Francisco de Asís on the square with colonial paintings.
• The setting - open plateau at 3,380 metres with snow peaks in view.

When to go

April to October. Thirty to sixty minutes on the way to or from the salt ponds and Moray.

Honest expectations

There is no visitor infrastructure and little signage - this is an ordinary town, not an attraction. The church is often locked. Cold and windy on the plateau. Most tours drive straight through.

Nearby

The Maras salt ponds are below; Moray is across the plateau.