Things to see and do Cajamarca

This symbolic square where the meeting between Atahualpa and Pizarro took place, followed by the cowardly execution of the former, is nevertheless one of the most harmonious in the country. At that time, this place was a fortified monument 400 meters long and 200 meters wide and a fortress-like structure called Ushnu. From here began the road between the city of Cajamarca and Baños del Inca. Today, lined with its churches, colonial houses and a small stone fountain from the 18th century, it exudes a quiet and peaceful elegance.

The 18th century complex is made up of the Church of Belén and the old men's and women's hospitals. The church is singular, its façade is worked in the form of an altarpiece composed of three sections. Its ceilings, painted with polychrome figures, show particularly curious cherubs. In the highest part, on an undulating cornice, are three sculptures representing the three theological virtues: faith, in the centre, blindfolded and holding a chalice; hope, on the left, symbolised by the anchor; and finally charity, on the right, with a child in her arms.

The men's hospital, built in the 18th century, with thick stone walls and a vaulted ceiling, is surrounded by small niches in which the patients waited to receive extreme unction. A reconstruction of the position of the patients shows them facing the altar to follow the celebration of the mass. Today, the hospital houses a museum of medicine. In the rooms to the right of the entrance is an art gallery dedicated to the painter Andrés Zevallos.

Finally, we enter the women's hospital, on the other side of the street, through a heavy door of carved stone in the mestizo style, whose lintel supported by two four-breasted caryatids is a sign of fecundity. Inside, the Museo Etnologico displays objects representative of pre-Incan cultures, such as these three children's mummies. The walls still show traces of the polychrome paint that once covered them.

The cell where Atahualpa was detained, this room that he had to fill once with gold and twice with silver to regain his freedom, is the only Inca vestige in Cajamarca. Note the polish and the adjustment of the stones as well as the line drawn on the wall, at the height of the raised arm of the Inca. The ransom took nine months to be collected and was not enough to save the Inca. The place is moving, but very small. The visit is anecdotal, but full of history, go there especially since it is included with the very interesting and complete Conjunto Monumental de Belén.