The city of Cajamarca brings together three ingredients that make it an unforgettable destination: a magnificent Colonial architecture, beautiful countryside, and a rich history since it was the scene of an important episode of South American history. Here, the Conquistador Francisco Pizarro captured the Inca Atahualpa who, in spite of fulfilling his part of the ransom, was killed. From that point onward, the conquistadors drafted the city in the traditional Spanish way, and today the Colonial constructions of the Cathedral, the churches of San Francisco, Belen, and la Recoleta, mansions, and monuments are preserved.

There are many excursion possibilities: the Inca Baths, thermo-medicinal hot springs where the Inca used to go after long trips, the Ventanillas de Otuzco (Otuzco Windows), a cemetery carved into a wall of volcanic rock, Cumbemayo, a demonstration of pre-Incan hydraulic engineering still functioning today, that is located in a wonderful natural area, the old hacienda La Colpa, where the cattle go to be milked at the sound of their name, Kuntur Wasi, a commercial center that dates to the year 1100 b.C. and its site museum with the numerous examples of the oldest objects of gold in the Americas, the Porcón farm, an agricultural and cattle cooperative surrounded by a pine forest, ideal for spending a day out of the city, visiting its small zoo of vicuñas, deer, little spotted cats, monkeys, and eagles, buying its milk products, or simply enjoying the landscape.

Cajamarca Cathedral or Santa Catalina Main Church
The Royal Decree of December 26th 1665 ordered the establishment of a Spanish parish in the city of Cajamarca, and so, where the old courthouse stood, a church was built that would become the cathedral in 1862. This is one of the highest expressions of the Peruvian Baroque architecture. Its features harmoniously combine columns, cornices, and finely sculpted niches. The most impressive parts of its three naves are the upper altar and the pulpit, both carved in wood and covered in gold leaf.

San FranciscoChurch (originally named San Antonio)
It was built in 1699 with the carved stones of the “Casa de la Sierpe”, a house owned by Cajamarca’s chief, don Calixto Astopilco, and with stones from the Santa Apolonia hill. In 1952, some catacombs housing the remains of numerous Franciscan monks and members of the indigenous nobility were discovered underneath the upper altar. Besides the church, you can visit the convent, the Museo de Arte Religioso (Museum of Religious Art), and the Sanctuary of the Virgen Dolorosa (Sorrowful Virgin), the city’s patron saint. You can see the image of the Virgin in the Capilla del Sagrario (Chapel of the Tabernacle) of 1685, which lies adjacent to the church, and there are beautifully worked baroque carvings, high relief stone carvings of the life of Jesus, and the finely carved wooden pews of the choir.

Conjunto Monumental Belen (Bethlehem Complex)
An eighteenth century architectural complex composed of the church, the former Men’s Hospital (MedicalMuseum), and the former Women’s Hospital (Archeological and EthnographicMuseum), which was named “Hospital de Nuestra Señora de la Piedad” (Our Lady of Mercy Hospital). The Baroque church is characterized by a carefully carved stone entrance, unfinished towers, arcades, and buttressed sides.

Conjunto Monumental La Recoleta (La Recoleta Complex)
This complex is made up of the church and convent, both built in the second half of the seventeenth century. The front of the church is like a Neoclassic Plateresque shrine, and instead of towers, it has belfries. Inside, formed by only one nave, there is a beautiful cupola, a choir loft, and three plain altars.

Mirador Natural Santa Apolonia (Santa Apolonia Natural Lookout)
The hill, Santa Apolonia, which used to be called Rumi Tiana (Stone Seat), is a strategic viewpoint for the city and the Cajamarca valley. At the edges still remain vestiges of pre-Hispanic constructions like the so called “Silla del Inca” (Seat of the Inca), formed by a stone block that juts out from the hill itself and was carefully carved to give it its current form. Among the stairways and gardens, there is a wonderful chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Fatima.