Information about the city Ferrenafe
Ferreñafe was founded on December 13, 1550 by captain Alonso de Osorio. Before the arrival of the Spanish, an early civilization lived in the area, The Sican. The Sican culture existed long before the Incas, and adopted themselves to the geography of Ferreñafe. The Sican built pyramids and buried their family lineage in forms that attract scholars from different fields of study. Sican National Museum is the main centre of interpretation to understand the culture, philosophy, architecture, life style, and hierarchy structure of the Sican.
Through the years, Ferreñafanos have learned to preserve its customs and values. Until these days, its populations strongly preserves its beliefs in Catholicism, and Shamanism as well, naming Ferreñafe the city of "the double faith".
The Sican, the Incas, The Spanish, and more recently Chinese, Japanese, among other immigration groups, have brought development in many domains, one of them Gastronomy, known as Peruvian cuisine. Years of history, have brought along a developed taste for food and its ingredients. In fact, some ingredients are native from Ferreñafe as are portrayed in the pottery by early pre-Columbus civilization, the Sican. Ingredients such as Loche, Lucuma, among others.
There exists a cotton that grows in several different natural colours, and is originally from Ferreñafe, named "algodon nativo".
Textiles are also produced by locals in the small towns nearby the Andes.
The town has potential for agrotourism and adventure tourism, while enjoying the night life during the weekends. Birdwatching is a growing activity that can be widely practiced in the surrounding area.
In recent years, the tourism industry has occupied an important role in its economy, that was until few years ago based only in agriculture. Few hotels are available, and there is still lack of proper training for the human resources of the tourism industry.
Information about the city Abancay
Abancay is a city in southern-central Peru. It is the capital of both the Apurímac Region and the Abancay Province.
Abancay is located at an elevation of 2,377 metres (7,799 ft) above sea level in the southern Peruvian Andes, above the Pachachaca River, and straddles the Marino River. Because of its dry mountain[clarification needed] and famous year-round warm weather it is known as "The Eternal Springtime Valley". The nearest cities are Cusco, Chalhuanca and Andahuaylas. Abancay is located at the junction of two important Peruvian roads: the Caminos del Inca Road, an old road dating from Incan times, between the cities of Nazca and Cusco, and the Via de los Libertadores, connecting Ayacucho and Cusco.
Abancay was already a populated area before the arrival of the Incas. It was the frontier of the Quechua-Inca cultural influence area of the Chancas, an ethnic native group of Peru. Its name comes from a flower native to the region called amankay. When the Spanish arrived, they transliterated the word and named the city Abancay, Villa de los Reyes ("Abancay, Village of the Kings"), which was later reduced to Abancay, its current name. Abancay was the location of the Battle of Abancay between the forces of the Conquistadores Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro. Abancay was mentioned in the first Cronicas (Pedro Cieza de León) as an encomienda dedicated to the cultivation of sugar cane for the production of aguardiente.
There is a traditional tale about the foundation of the city recorded by Guillermo Vidalegut, a local journalist, in his book "Alma y Rostro de Abancay", who, inspired by Ricardo Palma's Tradiciones Peruanas, gathered local traditional stories. As the story goes, during colonial times, the town was located above the valley, in one of the skirts of the Ampay mountain, in a place which is now known as Ccorhuani. One day, the statue of the Virgin Mary known as Our Lady of the Rosary, Patroness of the village, mysteriously disappeared from the local Church. The people, fearing robbery and claiming sacrilege, searched day and night until a shepherd found the statue standing above an immense boulder by the valley. The people believed that the thieves had left the statue in fear of being discovered by the search parties. The statue was returned in a procession back into town. A few weeks later, the same disappearance occurred again and another search ensued. The statue was again found in the same spot where it was found before. Lo and behold, the disappearance happened a third time. The people never understood why or how this was happening. Finally, it was suggested that maybe the statue was asking for a shrine in the valley at the location where it was being found. The town then built a small Chapel there, and it became a place of constant visits by the people. Before long, it became the center of activity, and the entire town was moved to where is located today. The statue of Our Lady of the Rosary still sits above the immense boulder which is located on the right side of the Cathedral.
