The co-director of the Condesuyos Archeological Project, archeologist Mariusz Ziólkowski, announced a possible tourist circuit that would include 20 archeological sites in Peru’s southern Arequipa department. Ziólkowski, also a professor at the Center for Pre-Columbian Studies of Warsaw University, said the sites include ruins from different periods, including cave paintings from the archaic period and Catholic churches that were constructed shortly after the conquest, reported Agencia Andina.
Seventeen of the sites have pottery and architecture with features similar to those of the Incas, Ziólkowski said. “We’ve evaluated their importance, their potential to attract tourists, and their aesthetic features.” He added, “among these sites, there are five that could be centers for a new tourist circuit.”
An oracle dedicated to the Coropuna mountain, which was a major religious site of the Incas, could be one of the prime tourist attractions on the circuit. According to Ziólkowski, the shrine is located in the Maucallacta complex, which includes 300 structures and 4.5-meter walls.
“Maucallacta was the place of the main ceremonies dedicated to the Coropuna volcano, judging by the quantity of offerings and ashes in two large ‘dumps’ that we’ve investigated,” said Ziólkowski. He added that the site has been well preserved, but “what we need more than conservation of the archeological monuments, is to educate the public not to destroy them and to think about the tourist system and ordering the human flow inside the site.”
The Consdesuyos project is financed by Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with support from Poland’s Culture Ministry, the Polish Society for Latin American Studies, Warsaw University and the Santa María Catholic University of Arequipa.
