Archaeological City Tour Arica

We will start this fabulous expedition at your hotel and leave for the jewel of the north of Chile, the prodigious Azapa Valley which is popular for its enormous archaeological development with more than 10.000 years of history. A visit in this fertile oasis includes comtemplating surprising geoglyphs placed at the flanks of the hills. One example is the famous Cerro Sombrero (Hut Mountain) which represents the very first designs of this art made out of stones. Furthermore you will get to see the human, natural and geometrical forms of the Geoglyphos de la Tropilla that are surrounded by a mystical ambience.

The following stop will be the Cerro Sagrado (Holy Mountain), a hill that presents geoglyphs of mythological figures, accompanied by animals. The viewing point Las Llosyas is the best place to observe these beautiful geoglyphs, and from here you can also enjoy a great view over the Azapa valley. We will be visiting tumuli, better known as ancient graves that date from the time around Christ. In continuation you can discover the fort of San Lorenzo, located on the terraces of the valley. Nowadays, there are only ruins to find, but once this fort was a great base for defense, influenced by the Tiwanaku in the region.

We will visit the Archaeological Museum of San Miguel of Azapa that contains one of the most relevant patrimonial relicts related to the archaeology in Chile: the most ancient mummies in the world that belong to the Chinchorro-culture (5.000 b.C.) and other pre-inca relicts that are more than 10.000 years old. Then, we are going to visit the only cemetery in the region which is one of the oldest cemeteries in the world and known to be a picturesque place.

From San Miguel we will get to the “Canyon of the Devil”, moving on to the village of Poconchile with its beautiful church (15th century) and its cemetery. Returning to Arica you can see various Petroglyphs in Rosario and you can observe the geoglyphs La Rana (The Frog), El Aguila (The Eagle) and El Gigante (The Giant) that were constructed 1.000 years b.C.