Huaraz

People settled the valley of the Santa River and its tributaries long before the Inca, and the Wari culture left the site of Wilcahuaín on the hills above the city. Huaraz takes its name from the Quechua Waraq, meaning dawn. On 20 January 1574 Alonso de Santoyo founded a Spanish-Indigenous reduction here, Pampa Huarás de San Sebastián, with 14 quarters; by the 1570s hundreds of Quechua speakers were labouring in the region's mines, and whole villages were forcibly marched away and resettled. During the wars of independence the city supported the liberating army with food and arms.

The mountains above the city have repeatedly brought disaster. In 1941 the dam of Lake Palcacocha, the city's water supply, burst after an avalanche of glacier ice, and floodwater and debris destroyed much of the north side and a large part of the centre. On 31 May 1970 the Ancash earthquake, the most catastrophic natural disaster in Peru's history, destroyed 95 per cent of Huaraz; the same reservoir burst again, and an avalanche off Huascarán buried the town of Yungay further down the valley.

The city was rebuilt on a new plan with wider streets, since the narrow colonial lanes had been deathtraps during the earthquake. Only Jirón José Olaya kept its traditional houses. Huaraz grew again as the capital of the Ancash Region and the commercial centre of the Callejón de Huaylas, and from the late 20th century as the base for visitors to Huascarán National Park, created in 1975.

Huaraz is the main tourist destination of the Ancash Region. Visitors from around the world come for climbing, hiking, mountain biking and snowboarding in the Cordillera Blanca, whose peaks — Huascarán, the highest mountain in the tropics, and its neighbour Huandoy — are clearly visible from the city in fair weather. Guides, porters and outfitters are part of the local economy and culture, and the town fills with trekkers in the dry season.

The city is also a centre of Andean heritage. Quechua is spoken by a minority, mostly in the rural districts. The city's patron is the Señor de la Soledad, whose image dates from the Spanish founding, and its main religious festivals fall in Holy Week and in May. The regional museum's collection of carved stone, with fine examples of Chavín sculpture, links Huaraz to the temple of Chavín de Huántar over the range.

The memory of 1970 shapes local identity. The loss of almost all the old city left Huaraz with a modern, plain appearance, and the national cemetery on the site of buried Yungay is visited as a place of mourning rather than a sight.

About 119,000 people lived in the Huaraz urban area at the 2017 census, spread across the districts of Huaraz and Independencia. It is the largest town of the Callejón de Huaylas, an important farming valley, and one of the biggest towns in the Peruvian Andes. About half the working population is in commerce and services, and smaller food companies making soft drinks, beer and cheese employ around 13 per cent; tourism adds a strong seasonal income.

The day centres on the markets around Avenida Raimondi, the plaza and the agencies selling treks, and minibuses link the city with the villages of the valley and the Cordillera Negra. On Sundays a street market fills with local people selling regional foods.

Water and ice are pressing concerns. The area of permanent ice in the Cordillera Blanca shrank by about a third between the 1970s and 2006, and the glaciers supply part of northern Peru's water year-round. Lake Palcacocha, whose floods struck the city in 1941 and 1970, has grown as the glacier beside it has receded.

The food of Huaraz is Andean. Cuy, guinea pig, is the regional dish, often served as picante de cuy in a spicy sauce at small local restaurants and market stalls. Pachamanca, meat and potatoes cooked over hot stones in an earth oven, is another highland dish, and trout, raised in fish farms in the region, is on many menus. Other local dishes include tamales, humitas and caldo de patasca.

The Central Market is the place to see the produce of the valley and a starting point for buying supplies for expeditions. Small eateries in and around the market serve set lunches, and on Sundays the street market sells regional foods.

Dairy and drinks are local industries too: cheeses and milk products, soft drinks and beer are made in the city. Coca tea is drunk across the Andes for the altitude.