María Parado was an ordinary woman turned hero during the struggle for Peru’s independence.
She was born in Huamanga, Ayacucho in the 1760s, married in the 1770s and had seven children. It was in the 1820s that she decided to help the nationalists fighting against the royalist Spanish army. Her husband and son were fighting with the nationalists while she remained in the Spanish stronghold of the city of Huamanga (Ayacucho).
The village of Quinua, in the huamanga pampa surrounding the city of Ayacucho is above all famous for its Artesanía. People also visit for the nearby monument to the dead of the battle for Peru’s independence and to visit the village’s photogenic streets.
This blog consists of a collection of photos taken in two of the main markets in Ayacucho. The majority of the population buy all they buy from these markets, whether its grain or a live chicken. It’s also the main market place for the surrounding towns and the indigenous people can walk for miles or take combis from all around to visit. In addition to the photos I have a video here.
“The Encounter” relives the moment in which Jesus saw his mother in the way to the crucifixion. La Verónica saw Jesus carrying the cross and wiped the blood from his face. Later she met John to announce her encounter with Jesus and both went in search of Mary with the news. Finally Mary realized the Encounter between her and son. In the procession this story is played out with the images representing the characters inclining towards each other to “talk”.
For the various processions that take place during Semana Santa, the people of Ayacucho create beautiful alfombras de flores – carpets of flowers for the various religious idols to pass over. On Wednesday the procession of El Encuentro – The Encounter many of these were destroyed by a brief rain shower.
A journey of just over 1 hour took us from the city to the site of the Battle of Ayacucho. As mentioned in the previous blog on the history of Ayacucho, this is where South American and Peruvian independence from Spain was won.
“This procession is mostly observed by, as a tradition, lawyers and people in the justice system. The image of the Señor de la Sentencia. This more solemn image shows Jesus with signs of torture and beatings after being arrested by the Romans and sentenced by the town.”
“The image of the Señor de Huerto symbolizes the speech of Jesus en the garden of Gethsemane(Getsemani), where he was arrested by Roman soldiers after Judas turned him in. It symbolizes accepting the plans of God.”
Ayacucho has a church almost on every block of the city. Some of them date back to the days of the original conquest by Francisco Pizarro. In this blog, I give a brief history of some of the oldest and photos of as many as I could find in a hour or two of looking.
It was Palm Sunday (Domingo de Ramos) and the market of Ayacucho was full of people selling palms. Later in the afternoon a procession left towards the plaza. The people in the procession each had a palm and were singing hymns.
Ayacucho is famous for its celebrations during the Easter season, a season I’ll be here to witness. The town has a population of over 90,000, swelling during Semana Santa as people arrive to witness the religious festivities.
The city has a long and important history, dating back as much as 15,000 years where the first evidence of human habitation was found in the caves of Pikimachay. Thousands of years later, but still before the rise of the Incas, the area was home to the Huari civilisation which spanned about half of the Peruvian Andes…
