Huancavelica

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Huancavelica is the poorest city in Peru. It is the capital of the Huancavelica region and has a population of approximately 40,000. Indigenous peoples represent a major percentage of the population. It has an approximate altitude of 3,600 meters; the climate is cold and dry between the months of February and August with a rainy season between September and January.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Transportation
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Geography

The Huancavelica area presents a rough geography with several levels of altitude, from 1,950 metres in the valleys to more than 5,000 metres on its snow-covered summits. These majestic mountains contain metallic deposits. They are comprised of the well-known western chain of the Andes, like the “Mountain range of Chonta”, formed by a series of hills within which are emphasized; Citaq (5328m), Huamanrazo (5298m) and Altar (5268m).

[edit] History

In the pre-Incan era, Huancavelica was known as the Wancawilka region or "the place where the grandsons of the Wankas live". The city itself was established on August 5th, 1572. The mines of Huancavelica, discovered in 1563, were the most prolific source of mercury in Spanish America, and as such were vital to the mining operations of the Spanish colonial-era. Mercury was necessary to extract silver from the ores produced in the Potosí silver-mines of Perú superior, now named Bolivia, using the patio process (see also amalgamation). Mercury was so essential that mercury consumption was the basis upon which the tax on precious metals, known as the Quinto Real, was levied. In 1648 the Viceroy of Peru declared that Potosí and Huancavelica were "the two pillars that support this kingdom and that of Spain." Moreover, the viceroy thought that Spain could, if necessary, dispense with the silver from Potosí, but it could not dispense with the mercury from Huancavelica.^[1]

[edit] Transportation

Huancavelica is serviced by a train which runs between it and Huancayo known as "el Tren Macho". According to popular saying, this train “leaves when it wants and arrives when it can...”. There are no paved roads which go directly to Huancavelica and most of the city is unpaved as well.

[edit] See also

Almadén (the other major source of mercury in the Spanish empire).

[edit] References

^ Arthur Preston Whitaker, The Huancavelica Mercury Mine: A Contribution to the History of the Bourbon Renaissance in the Spanish Empire, Harvard Historical Monographs 16 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1941).