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Piura
Catedral de Piura Peru
Mancora Piura Peru
Location: North Coast.
Area: 35 891 km2
Capital: Piura (29 masl)
Altitude:
- Minimum: 3 masl (Paita y Los Órganos)
- Maximum: 2709 masl (Ayabaca)
Relief: Piura's department has a varied geography since it combines landscapes of the desert costeño with those of the high zones of the Andean region. In its coastal region stands out the desert of Sechura, the biggest of the Peru; in this one there is located Bayóvar's depression, the lowest area of the Peruvian territory (37 msnm). Eastward, in the Andean region, the territory is more injured, there there is located Porculla's step (2138 msnm) the lowest step of the Peruvian Andes.
Colán, Piura
Piura is such a merry city that its inhabitants talk in singsong tones. It was here that Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro founded the first Spanish city in Peru, San Miguel de Piura, in 1532. The city's colonial churches house valuable collections of colonial art, while the town of Catacaos is famous for its fine straw and cotton arts and crafts, gold and silver filigree and delicious dishes served up at local eateries called picanterías.
The coastal stretch of the department of Piura provides a variety of circuits for visitors. Near Tumbes lies Máncora, a beach resort with pure white sand and a tranquil sea. Further south is Cabo Blanco, an ideal spot for surfing as it boasts some of the best waves in the Pacific Ocean. Cabo Blanco was famous amongst the US jetset in the 1950s for its world records in deepsea fishing, which attracted regular visitors such as novelist Ernest Hemingway. Colán is the beach resort for the city of Piura, a resort where the homes stand on stilts by the sea.
Higher up in the Piura highlands lies the town of Chulucanas, which is famous for its superb pottery. The province of Huancabamba, meanwhile, is home to Las Huaringas, a chain of lakes whose waters are believed to have medicinal properties. The area is the capital of folk healing and traditional medicine.
Any time of year is a good time to soak in the Piura sun and taste the local fermented maize beer chicha de jora. Visitors can gaze out over the Sechura desert, the largest in Peru, and practice water sports on rivers and lakes.
Cabo Blanco
Located in the department of Piura, Cabo Blanco is widely held to feature the best left-breaking wave in Peru. A rapid and short wave (which makes a quick take-off obligatory) and one of the best tubes in the country. The wave can reach a height of 4 meters, although normally it ranges from 2-3 meters. The best time for surfing is from November to December. It is also a dangerous wave as it breaks over a reef, which becomes more exposed when swells wash away the sand. Wave frequency depends directly on swells coming from the north (generated in the North Pole and which pass through Hawaii).
Señor Cautivo de Ayabaca
Every year, thousands of the faithful from various parts of northern Peru and even Ecuador set out on a pilgrimage to Ayabaca, a town 211 km northeast of the northern coastal city of Piura. On the main day of the festival, a procession of the image of the Captive Christ (Señor Cautivo de Ayabaca) through the town streets, which have been previously decorated with carpets of flower petals. Before the Spanish Conquest, peasants in the same spot placed offerings at the temples of Aypate and La Huaca. The devout have a firm belief in the miracles that the image is said to have performed in healing the sick. Its origin dates back to 1 751, when a Spanish priest had the image carved, featuring a disconcerting expression, a blend of sweetness and mystery.
Jewelry
The abundance of minerals and semi-precious stones in Peru have made it possible to develop creative metalwork since pre-Hispanic times. The oldest example of goldsmithy in South America dates back to the Chavín culture (1 000 BC). Later, priceless pieces were found in the areas of Chancay, Paracas and Cuzco, as well as superb work done by the Mochica, Chimú and Lambayeque cultures. In the late 1 980s archaeologists discovered the Royal Tombs of the Lord of Sipán corresponding to the Moche culture (600-1 200 AD). The tomb of the warrior priest featured ceremonial dress and ornaments worked in gold with techniques that were highly advanced for the time. These techniques, used even today by artisans working with jewels, sculptured pieces and utensils, include alloys, smelting with laminated pieces, chiseling, soaking, smelting gold threads, filigree, and applications, incrustations and clasps.
Silversmithy: The most important centers of silver artisanry are to be found in the departments of Junín, Huancavelica, Ayacucho and Cuzco. Silversmiths, who have kept alive the colonial tradition, develop a wide variety of shapes and motifs, crafting jewelry in the shape of barnyard animals, peacocks, horses and stars, as well as articles for religious and domestic use. Other important pieces in silverwork include wrought silver pinches in colonial Cuzco style, tupus, or brooches to pin together the llicllas, silver alloy necklaces worked in black onyx and bamboo, silver necklaces inlaid with obsidian, earrings fitted with opals of several colors, and burnished silver in colonial style, as well as framed in wood for paintings and mirrors.
Gold Filigree: This goldsmithy technique involves thinning the gold to minimum proportions to thread it together, creating jewels of extraordinary beauty. The town of Catacaos in Piura, heirs to the Vicus culture, is a major production center of the delicate art of filigree. The most commonly-produced pieces are dormilonas, a type of earring, and necklaces, which often feature the moon motif.
Semi-precious Stones: Other materials used in arts and crafts, especially in jewelry, are chosen from a vast variety of semi-precious stones, many of which found in Peru, while others are imported, like in the pre-Hispanic era, from elsewhere in the Americas in what is today Colombia and Ecuador. Generally these stones, the most spectacular of which are Peruvian turquoise, or crisocola, onyx, obsidian and opal, are used to make necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets. Nor should one forget the use of the traditional red seashell called spondylus, once called "the sacred food of the gods", used to craft superb pieces of jewelry.
Source: Prom Perú
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