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Historical Outline
The historical roots of the region of Ancash go very deeply and a long way back. One of oldest and culturally most influential civilizations in the Western Hemisphere –the Chavin- flourished there between 1500 B.C. and 100 B.C. and established what is conventionally denominated as the “Early Cultural Horizon” of Peruvian and Andean history. This was essentially a religious and theocratic society, based on the cult of a zoo-anthropomorphic deity with human, feline, falcon and serpent characteristics. Although a fierce and aggressive strain is consistently present in the social and cultural expressions of this culture, the quality and workmanship of its lithic sculpture and ceramics reached a point barely equaled and seldom surpassed by later, subsequent, cultures. The last vestiges of the Chavin fade around the beginnings of the present era and certainly none other than inanimate remains were left in the region by the time the Incas took hold of it in the XV century. Nevertheless, the local inhabitants, by then called Huaylas and Conchucos, though very distantly related to Chavin, resisted the Incas with the same warlike and fierce spirit of their ancestors.
The advent of the Spanish conquest led to forays of plunder and destruction in search of gold and treasure in the region. These were also met with fierce resistance on the part of the Huaylas and Conchucos regardless of the force and atrocities committed by Francisco Pizarro and his host; and the Conquistadors suffered numerous casualties The invaders did not succeed in establishing permanent settlements and land holdings for a long time, this being one of the reasons that no precise date for the founding of the Capital city of Huaraz is actually known, although there are conflicting views on the subject. During the Colonial era, Huaraz did not hold any position of importance as did many of the other cities in Peru, As a result of this there are virtually no traces of colonial Spanish architecture in evidence. Ancash did, however, take very active participation in the Peruvian Wars of Independence from Spain and many of the inhabitants of the region enrolled and fought in the armies of Simón Bolivar in the second and final liberation of Peru in 1824 (following the first liberation by José de San Martín in 1821). In present times, the architecture of Huaraz is quite modern in style and appearance, with tall buildings, wide avenues and suburban neighborhoods. Much of this, of course, is due to the successive reconstruction undergone by the city after the devastating earthquakes of 1950 and 1970, the latter exacting a toll of 30,000 lives. The city, and region, managed to overcome these disasters and become again the administrative center and hub of a large area of influence in Northern Peru.
In any case, whatever Huaraz may lack in terms of vintage architecture is more than generously made up for by its natural setting, lying as it does in the very heart of one of the highest ranges among the many that make up the Andes, Longest Chain of Mountains in the World and, along with the Himalaya, the Greatest.