Pucará de Tilcara

Pucará de Tilcara Review

These ruins are located on a hill above the left bank of the Río Grande about a mile south of town. This fortified, pre-Inca settlement (pucará) is the best-preserved of several in the Quebrada de Humahuaca, and the only one that can be visited. The different areas of the village (some have been rebuilt) nestling among the hundreds of cardon cacti on the hill are obvious. Allow at least 90 minutes to walk around where around 2,000 Omaguaca lived, worshipped, and kept their animals. On your way out, turn right at the entrance to the fort for the Jardin Botanico (Botanical Garden), with a large array of cacti among its plantings. Don't turn down the invitation on a sign to strike the Piedra Campana with a mallet disguised as a stick—true to its name (Bell Stone) it rings like a bell. Note that ticket stubs from a visit to the Museo Arqueológico in town get you free entrance to both the ruins and the botanical garden.