LA HOSTERÍA and The Lost City

The Churajón Route Some of Arequipa’s old buildings hint at the existence of ancient mysteries: mysteries which, when unraveled, reveal a fascinating history of past civilizations, and La Hostería lies in a privileged position within this city to allow us to uncover some of these secrets. Located on the edge of the “Coa”1 ronda, its toponymy suggests a place dedicated to terrace-based agriculture, a coa being a wooden tool used to dig furrows and holes for the planting of maize. This is an important fact, since maize was the Inca Empire’s main crop and was grown in the best areas, where soil and water conditions allowed for excellent harvests. Later on, because of its steep slope this area would also be called the “Barranca del río” or “River ravine”. The slope meant that buildings were constructed on terraces, including west-facing viewpoints lined with arches. In the city’s current semiotics, arches and vaults made of white, volcanic sillar rock are considered to be the most authentic expression of “Arequipeño” architecture, and are prominently used a local symbol. The ronda (old street) is part of the city’s basic structure, and is so-called because of its antiquity or its peripheral location. When the Spaniards arrived these roads that nowadays lead to the heart of modern Arequipa already existed, forming part of a spatial structure that no longer exists. It is worth noting that when the Incas arrived they probably found a pre-existing agricultural structure developed by their predecessors, the Collaguas, who came from the altiplano and the Colca region. This has been corroborated by notes written in 1581 by Don Ulloa de Mogollón, who on the orders of the Viceroy carried out a census of the ethnic groups’ lands that the Spaniards occupied, in which he mentions the possessions of the “Ariquipas”, from which it is presumed that the Arequipa’s name originates, although it is often attributed to the Inca Emperor Mayta Capac, who on being told of the valley’s benefits announced: “Ari Qhipay”, which in Quechua means “Yes, stay”. “Yes, stay”, but where? This may be best explained by a series of discoveries2 that commenced in the middle of the 20th century, in the 1950s, in the patios of the centennial Independencia Americana School, which revealed tombs belonging to the Churajón culture, and which started a debate on the antiquity of the valley’s pre-Hispanic occupation. Thirty years later,

1 Currently Villalba – Cruz Verde Street. 2 Recorded by Dr. Juan Godines and Lic. Marco López, and described in MG. William Palomino’s master thesis. Alcalá de Henares University, Madrid, Spain. 2007. in the 1980s Dr. Manuel Hunqui made the unexpected discovery of the remains of a Colla house in what is now the third patio of the Banco Continental in San Francisco Street. These archaeological discoveries, in addition to recurrent casual finds by various builders during construction projects in the 1970s and 1980s on Santo Domingo Street and Deán Valdivia Street lent weight to the hypothesis of a substantial pre-Inca settlement. In 1998 a pre-Hispanic tomb was discovered in Deán Valdivia Street that was probably connected to the findings formerly made in the Independencia Americana School. Four years later, in 2002, on the corner of the streets Ugarte and Santa Catalina, other structures were uncovered. Finally, in 2007, remains of another residence were once again found in the so-called Casa de la Moneda, which in Dr. Pablo de la Vera Cruz’s opinion were of Churajón origin. These discoveries could have been unrelated were it not for the fact that they followed a pattern of occupation that coincides with the layout of ancient aqueducts as recorded on a 1917 map by Don Eduardo de Rivero3. On this map, which shows the Spanish irrigation channels and aqueducts that crisscrossed the city of Arequipa, the San Jerónimo and San Juan de Dios aqueducts stand out, where the archaeological discoveries mentioned above are located. These continue to the historical ronda de la Palma, now Alto de la Luna Street / Dolores Ave., or to the ronda of Socabaya, which maintains the currently layout of Salaverry Ave. and Malecón Socabaya to the Apacheta cemetery, from where it continues to the pre-Hispanic settlement of “Pillo” or “Pillu”, a Quechua word meaning “Floral Wreath”. Finally, the last route would have been the ronda de la Pólvora (of which now only fragments remain, such as the current Manzanitos Street) that runs from Arequipa with the district of Socabaya. Socabaya’s name is derived from the Quechua suk’a (things placed in order) and aya (dead), therefore meaning “Field of the dead” or “Place where the dead lie”. These roads then meet and continue on until they reach Churajón Culture territory, in the district of Polobaya (according to Lic. Nexmi Daza, this name comes from a Puquina word, pholluyog-paya, meaning “Old lady with a cloak”), and Mollebaya (which comes from the Quechua molle4, an Andean tree sometimes referred to as the false pepper tree, because of its fruit’s similarity to pepper; it is also known as “Pirú”5, and the Quechua word aya, meaning dead).

3 See map on page 4. 4 The molle is a tree from the Sapindales order, Anacardiaceae family, and Schinus genus. 5 It is worth considering the word “Pirú”. Like much of our history the origins of our country’s name –Perú– is still an enigma, subject to the whims of myths. One of the many stories about the origins of Peru's name dates back to Panama in 1513, where Vasco Ñúnez de Balboa had just discovered the Pacific Ocean. Rumours from the native sailors who traded along the coast between Manta (Ecuador) and Sechura (Peru) talked of a wealthy region to the south. When Don Pascual de Andagoya asked the natives of Panama the name of the region that these rumours referred to they replied “Birú”, although in fact this was not the name of the region itself, but of it’s cacique (chief). According to Dr. José Antonio del Busto, from then on Mollebaya would therefore mean: “Tree (molle) of the dead”, referring to a sacred place represented by the molle tree where the spirits of the dead would live. So the Churajón route passed through the current Hostería and although there would have been more than one ancient road, all converge on the mysterious Coa, and then continue along paths now built over, but which occasionally surface to break free from their past. Among these ancient roads we have the following routes: Villalba, Cruz Verde and Salaverry streets to the cemetery; Las Peñas Street, Paisajista Ave., the Founder’s Mansion, the “Pillo” archaeological site. Another route runs along what are now the following modern streets: Bolívar, Zela, Santa Catalina, the Cathedral Passage, Plaza de Armas, General Morán, San Juan de Dios, Déan Valdivia, Perú, Alto de la Luna, Dolores Ave., Emancipación Ave., María Nieves y Bustamante, Caracas, Sabandía Ave., up to the Sabandía Mill and Yumina. These two routes then join and continue on to Churajón, going through Socabaya, Quequeña, Mollebaya and Polobaya, before continuing on via various ancient roads to the millennial ruins of Tiahuanacu, in Puno and Bolivia.

everything south of Panama was referred to by the Spaniards as “Birú”, or “Pirú”. Another theory of Perú’s etymology is that the name comes from the word Pirúa, which means food store. Yet another theory is that Perú is a deviation of Pirúa, the name of a Peruvian city on the north coast, Piura.

These roads linked Arequipa to the rest of the Inca Empire along the magnificent Qhapaq Ñan or the “Great Inca Road” that ran through the Tahuantinsuyo, from North to South. The Qhapaq Ñan functioned as a network for making exchanges, establishing relations and provisioning. It also ran from Tiahuanacu through the legendary Cusco, continuing on to Vilcashuamán in Ayacucho before reaching Cajamarca and finally Quito in the far north. In the south it ran through Bolivia, and passed through Chile into northern Argentina, covering more than 5,000 km in total.

The Legacy of the Strategic “Tampus” In order for this ancient mega-project –the Qhapaq Ñan– to function as successfully as it did, a network of support buildings was built along its entire length. Although physical remains still bear witness to this great feat of ancient engineering, a large part of it has been lost to the ravages of time, as a consequence of the disappearance of the Inca Empire and the appearance of Spanish colonialism. In 1541 the northern road that linked Arequipa to Cusco and the Colca Canyon approached the city across the north-eastern Andean region and a primitive Inca bridge. This entrance to the city was called: “Calle de la Aduana”6, or “Customs House Street”. This toponymic reference is a clear indication that this was the most important entrance to the newly-founded Spanish city, baptized with the name of “Villa Hermosa de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción” (the “Beautiful City of Our Lady of the Assumption”) (Arequipa). In those early years the population of Spaniards and native yactarunas were reluctant to live in the new city grid layout,

6 Map of Arequipa, 1797. Museum of London. preferring to reside in their primitive dwellings, haciendas or country palaces. This initial resistance was overcome, however, with royal decrees that made construction in the new Spanish layout obligatory. The Colca and Cusco regions have always had close links to the city of Arequipa. For example Colca, which in Quechua means “storehouse”, was an important region for the Inca Empire, and some local areas were annexes of this valley. It is interesting to note the close links that still exist between Cusco and Arequipa, both from a commercial, as well as from an ethnographic perspective. For example, the traditional costumes of “Chumbivilcanos” (people from the Chumbivilcas, region of the department of Cusco) are still made in the tanneries of Arequipa, which have changed little since the end of the Spanish Colonial and early Republican periods. This is the crucial moment in the history of La Hostería manor house, since this is when its earliest structures, linked to the Cusco–Colca–Arequipa route, were first constructed, and they have changed very little since pre-Inca times. We have to go right back in time to understand how the earliest “Arequipeños” formed and consolidated a natural corridor, used in a primeval way by the paleofauna to undertake the “first colonization” of the nascent Chili valley, as demonstrated by the paleontological remains in the district of Yura, at one end. At the other end of this natural corridor, in the millenary city of Cusco, the dance of life began with the presence of herbivores, which soon attracted superior carnivores including the first human nomadic hunters, creators of the rock paintings still visible in the Sumbay caves that have been dated by Dr. Max Neira to 4,000 B.C. After many years of roaming across the Andes they began to form settlements in the initial period, as demonstrated by the archaeological site of Corralones, in the district of Uchumayo, in Arequipa, on the right bank of the Chili River. The birth of the city comes around the 13th century with the Churajón Culture. This people can probably be considered the second inhabitants of the Chili Valley. Dr. Huanqui Hurtado, as well as casual archaeological finds recorded by the Ministry of Culture confirm this theory of the valley’s occupation. The best evidence of the early occupation of the valley are structures discovered during excavations of the Casa Quiroz (also known as the Casa de la Moneda). Later, the Incas undertook the third colonization of the region. Their residential area was the current San Lázaro neighborhood, which is very close to La Hostería. Further evidence of this period comes from the remains of ancient irrigation channels that still run through city blocks. Many of these city blocks, as well as winding streets such as Villalba, are irregular in form because they bordered or followed the course of the irrigation channels, which originally wound their way around the edges of pre-Columbian terracing. The dramatic “fourth colonization” occurred in 1540 and brought with it profound changes in the original agriculture grounds and the superimposition of a colonial urban layout over the existing settlements. This transmitted a clear message of power and cultural superimposition, whilst consolidating the traditional links to the Cusco-Colca-Arequipa corridor. In this regard it is noteworthy that in 1648 the Franciscan Recoletos, located in front of La Hotería, on the opposite side of the river, bought their properties from the “cacique Alpaca”. Similarly the Tambo de la Cabezona, belonging to “Juan de Dios Rodríguez” was sold to “Don Francisco Amado, an indian, native of Cusco”. This suggests that this traditional links to Cusco and the Colca that began in the period7 of Late States and Domains continued under the Inca Empire, and during the Colonial period would be strengthened to the extent that the main entrance to Arequipa was through this part of the city, passing La Hostería along the “Del Peligro” side-street8, in the 18th century the fourth block of Puente Grau Street. Part of La Hostería’s structure actually faces north towards Del Peligro Street, which is revealing from a historical perspective. The room at the end of the second hallway is one of the few constructions from this period, and has the oldest structures in La Hostería, dating to before the 18th century. The architecture is akin with that of the tambos9; during the Colonial period the role of the tambo was very similar to that of the Inca period, in other words, they were used as a sophisticated logistical support structure for the movement of agricultural goods.

7 Canziani Amico, José, “Ciudad y Territorio en los Andes, Contribuciones a la Historia del Urbanismo Prehispánico, Fondo Editorial Pontifica Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, 2009. 8 Map of Arequipa,1830. Municipal Library of Arequipa. 9 The word tambo comes form the Quechua “tampu”, which means a temporary resting place, or travellers’ rest. Although there are no documents that indicate that La Hostería was used for this purpose, it’s structure fits with that of a colonial tambo. The word tambo is used commonly throughout Latin America, but its meaning varies slightly from country to country. In Argentina and Uruguay is used to describe a shed for milking cattle and selling milk (normally wholesale), as well as to describe the milking corral. In Bolivia and Ecuador, on the other hand, it is a place to stay. In El Salvador and Mexico it means a casket, prison or jail. The word tambo10 or tampu has several meanings, for example: an inn, a rural plot of land, a valley, a river, a tribe or small rural shop. However, it is most commonly used in its hispanicized11 version of “tambo”, referring to an inn. As from pre-Columbian times, these buildings were associated with different roadways12 throughout Peru, and it is therefore not unusual to find them at the entrances and exits of towns and villages “to serve as resting and storage areas, which were created in the late Inca period in order to assist in their domination of territory”.

Their role as inns were of huge significance to the region’s economy, allowing it to efficiently partake in the transport of merchandise from local production centers to the major cities, as well as helping in the transfer of valuable goods via the network of mule-drivers that covered the region. In time the tambos became a strategic or logistical part of the system, run by private individuals. The city relied heavily on their operation, which was therefore unregulated. La Hostería must have had this function. Little is known from a historical perspective, but its spatial layout is stylistically similar to that of a tambo. In its oldest structures it does not have the typical centralized pattern of the traditional houses in Arequipa, with patios, but rather a marked

10 The word tambo is often incorporated into place names, such as Limatambo (the tambo of Lima), Tambomachay (tambo cave), Pakaritampu (where the tambos appeared), Marcatampu (a shrine in Cusco), Tamputocco (a cave that figures in Inca origin myths), or in the names of people such as: Tampu-Chacay (companion of the mythical Ayar brothers, whose name translates as “tambo assistant”), or Tampu-kiru, which in Aymara means “coca trader”. It also makes up part of the name of the Urubamba Valley in Cusco, which refers to the lower part of the Urubamba river basin, not to mention the Tambo valley and river in the department of Arequipa. 11 Tampu is also often used to describe a human group or individual. The founding tribes of Cusco are: Masca, Chilke, Mara and Tampu. The tampus emerge from the Mataca cave or Sutij Toco arch. 12 Guaman Poma describes the “Royal Roads, Cápac Ñan Guamanin”, and says that in the time of the Incas there were six royal highways. Starting in Cusco, these were: “the first royal road runs through Chocllococha, Carachi, etc. The third runs through Guayllacucho (Ayacucho), the fourth through Bilcas Guaman (Vilcashuamán), Andayhuaylas, Guaranga, Jauja, the next through the mountain ranges, and the sixth royal highway runs through the same mountains to the northern sea. Each road was measured and marked. The roads were four Castilian yards wide and lined evenly on both sides with stones. “They had guamanies and tambillos, houses where chiefs and captains rested. These places were very secure, and the roads were well kept and clean. In the marshes the roads were built of stone and there were bridges.” “From Cusco, where he had his court and his palace, the Inca had two main roads that ran through his entire kingdom, one through the mountains and one along the coast. Every seven leagues there was a tambo with the same facilities.” “There were tambos every four leagues, where abundant provisions were kept for travellers. The natives of each province provided this service for their respective areas, and precise records were kept by the officials that lived in the provincial capitals.” The huts where the chasquis (Inca relay messengers) rested and awaited the arrival of other chasquis were also referred to as tambos. As soon as they saw another chasqui arriving they got ready to leave immediately and without stopping took the message that the previous chasqui was bringing to the following tambo. This relay system was incredibly efficient, and chasquis were even able to take fresh fish from the coast to the Andes. In this way the Inca was kept informed of everything that was happening in the Empire. Thanks to this system, which was incredibly fast for its time, news and messages could cover a distance of 3,000 km in less than 20 days. lineal predisposition. According to architect Ramón Gutiérrez, colonial tambos bore some similarities with their Inca predecessors, but with spacious patios and yards containing rooms for merchants, produce storage areas, a market and bartering area, dining area, and an area for keeping mules, llamas and other pack animals.

Towards the end of the Colonial period, as the population and the limits of Arequipa expanded outwards, more of these facilities were built, including in the city center, such as the one that the Jesuits possessed until their expulsion from the Americas in 1767. They became even more important during the middle of the 19th century, and because of the growing demand for lodging for mule-drivers and traders13 this is when the majority of tambos were built. The main tambos were the Tambo del Bronce, de Santiago, de Rúelas, de la Quiteña, del Matadero, de Barreda, the popular Tambo de la Cabezona, and later on the new Tambo de Gutiérrez. There were also the (now deteriorated and forgotten) Tambo de los Salas, in Beaterio, which was no less important than the Tambo de los Jesuitas, now the police station at No. 1, Palacio Viejo Street, or the Tambo de la Ranchería, at No. 20, Octavio Muñoz Nájar Street.

13 According to Valcárcel, Father Velasco calculated that there were between nine to twelve thousand tambos, and says that their shape was usually square, enclosing a large courtyard with a small tower or fortress in the middle. The edges contained large abodes of humble construction, were 200 paces long by 200 paces wide, and could accommodate all travellers, and a considerable number of animals. Valcárcel also provides a list of the tambos that he identified along the main roads. For the “coastal road” between Lima and Arequipa he lists the following tambos: “Tambo de Huari (Acari), Tambo de Taqui (Jaqui), Tambo de Vilcaroca (La Caleta) and Tambo de Atico. Regarding the supply of services provided by the tambos he says: “Those responsible for the following tambos were: for the Tambo de Taqui, in the second Hacari Valley, Pedro de Mendoza’s people. For the Tambo de Vilcaroca, Salcedo’s people, etc.”. Ubbelohde-Doering confirms this, with the observation that: “every 20 to 30 km. along the roads there were traveller’s inns; in addition, at greater distances, there were military warehouses in which troops could replenish their equipment and supplies.” This explains the difference in dimensions, location and form between different tambos. Guaman Poma says: “many lords and ladies pass through the tambos… Spanish travellers, including priests, use the royal roads and tambos. They arrive at the tambos in a bad mood and harangue the tambo natives and officials, and slap them and beat then with sticks, ask for large quantities of maize and bacon and lard and potatoes and mutton and chicken, fodder, chicha and eggs, and pots and water jugs and rope for their horses, native servants, another native to take the horses to pasture, another for the mule-train and others for the horses, another to serve him, and they demand animal fodder and wood and offer to barter so as not to have to pay, and then leave without paying…” Despite the differences, reports on the number of tambos and the distances between them, their existence and distribution along roads and in cities is undeniable. In Arequipa, “such inns or tambos would be even more important because of the amount of trade, and the transfer of produce by mules from the neighboring valleys and coastal agricultural areas (such as Vítor, Quilca, Tambo and Moquegua), minerals from the highlands (Condesuyos, Caylloma, Huantalajaya and Potosí) and textiles from haciendas on the altiplano, which were generally controlled by Arequipeños. These factors gradually converted the city into an important and dynamic center of production in the south of Peru, overtaking Cusco in commercial importance.” Research of the typology of La Hostería also indicates a certain resemblance with a “Spanish corrala”14. Although there is no documentary evidence that this type of building coexisted with the tambo, there are some interesting similarities with this kind of European house. This is particularly the case in La Hostería’s spaces and functions on its western side15, where there is an elongated patio flanked by second floor galleries and single room living quarters. If this were actually the case then what we may have is an old type of neighborhood residence made up of limited living spaces around a common patio16. Currently there are underground structures facing Villalba Street that have the unmistakable layout of tambos or “corralas”. In the 19th century17 the fifth block of Villalba Street was called Teatinos18 and the front of La Hostería faced onto Astorga19 Street, at the end of the Santa Catalina alley (now Zela Street). At the end of that century the city’s streets were renamed and renumbered, so that the house was given the new address of No. 60, Bolívar20 Street. With the construction of the Puente Real (Royal Bridge21) in the 17th century the old entrance to the city shifted to the corner of Beaterio and Real Street, with La Hostería’s street assuming a different role. Later, in the 19th century, the Puente Grau (Grau Bridge) was built and the area recovered some of its original role. During this period the Grau Street opened up access to lands that had been Franciscan orchards. This redefined the area, with the colonial Bolívar Street developing its stately appearance. Puente Grau Street would be Republican in style, with a tendency for small houses, an eighth of a block in size. On the other hand, the old Villalba Street maintained its colonial look, with 18th century baroque architecture.

14 A corrala is a type of Spanish building originally from the 16th century that became popular in the 20th century. It is characterized by a group of rooms around an elongated patio, surrounded by galleries or covered walkways, such as can be seen in the rear of the tambo. There is a fascinating description of a corrala in the novel “Fortuna y Jacinta” by Benito Pérez Galdós, which is set in just such a building. 15 It is worth noting the similarities between the origins of the “Spanish tambo” and the “Spanish corrala”, both of which refer not only to their use as a lodging or resting place, but also to their corral shape. These may therefore be two elements with common origins. Definitions by the Royal Spanish Academy. 16 This assumption is based on the current spatial and functional layout. 17 Map of Arequipa, 1830, commissioned by his Excellency Monsignor Goyeneche. 18 It as so-called because this was originally the location of the old Teatinos mill, which functioned next to the “Calle de la Ronda al Costado del Río”. Map of Arequipa, 1830. It is worth mentioning that in 1930 a portion of the taxes raised on this mill were used to build important public works such as the construction of primary and training schools in Chuquibamba. “Boletín de la Biblioteca Nacional”, numbers 31-32, page 12. Lima, 1964. 19 This name is a reference to the town of Astorga in the Spanish province of León in northern Spain. This toponymy refers to the importance of naming the streets after the Spaniards’ places of origin. 20 Registry Card No. 111050, page 1 of the electronic document 01131993. 21 Bolognesi Bridge.