Huamachuco

Huamachuco
Town
Flag of Huamachuco
Official seal of Huamachuco
Huamachuco is located in Peru
Huamachuco
Huamachuco
Coordinates: 7°48′43.3″S 78°02′55.3″W / 7.812028°S 78.048694°W / -7.812028; -78.048694
Country Peru
RegionLa Libertad
ProvinceSánchez Carrión
DistrictHuamachuco
Government
 • MayorBenito Robert Contreras Morales
Elevation
3,169 m (10,397 ft)
Population
 • Estimate 
(2015)[1]
39,806
Time zoneUTC-5 (PET)
WebsiteOfficial website
Panoramic view of the city of Haumachuco
View of the nearby Andes and farmland
The square Plaza Mayor

Huamachuco (possibly from Quechua waman, falcon or variable hawk, and Kulyi chuco, earth or land, "land of falcons") is a town in northern Peru and capital of the province Sánchez Carrión in La Libertad Region. The city is the seat of the Territorial Prelature of Huamachuco. Lake Sausacocha lies to the northeast.

About 30 miles away, within the Huamachuco district, is the significant archeological site of Marcahuamachuco. It is a complex of monuments, a prehistoric political and religious center of a culture that thrived 350 CE-1100 CE. The ruins of a Wari city, Viracochapampa, are located 3.5 km north of Huamachuco. Additionally there are many other pre-Columbian ruins around the town.

  1. ^ Perú: Población estimada al 30 de junio y tasa de crecimiento de las ciudades capitales, por departamento, 2011 y 2015. Perú: Estimaciones y proyecciones de población total por sexo de las principales ciudades, 2012-2015 (Report). Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. March 2012. Retrieved 2015-06-03.