ARGENTINA REGION BY REGION - Argentina - page 197

A view of tombs and crosses set against the breathtaking backdrop of the quebrada , Maimará

Maimará
47 miles (76 km) N of San Salvador de
Jujuy. * 2,000.
Overlooked by the beautiful
multicolored rock formations
of the quebrada , the village of
Maimará is best known for its
man-made stoneworks. The
extraordinarily diverse range of
tombs and crosses found in its
cemetery form a chaotic hillside
necropolis. The different colored
tombs are decorated with bright
bouquets of paper flowers.

artifacts from across Latin
America including ceramics,
menhirs, and even a mummy.
There are over 5,000 pieces in
the permanent collection and
two salons hold temporary
exhibitions all year.
In Museo Ernesto Soto
Avendaño, the rooms are
dedicated to the sculptor
who created Monumento
a la Independencia de
Humahuaca.
The small Museo Irureta
de Bellas Artes displays
over 100 engravings,
paintings, and sculptures
by modern Argentinian
artists. Works of Hugo
Irureta, the sculptor
who founded the
museum, are also
displayed. Located
close by is Museo José Antonio
Terry, whose exhibition space is
dedicated to the painter who

was born in Buenos Aires, but
spent most of his working life in
Tilcara. Here he produced oil
paintings depicting landscapes
and local personalities. Tilcara's
most popular attraction is an
open-air Inca “museum,” the
Pucará de Tilcara. This hilltop
fortress, situated half a mile
(1 km) away from town,
predates the arrival of the
Incas by up to five
centuries. It was first
excavated in 1903 and
has been restored and
preserved since the
1950s under the
auspices of the
University of Buenos
Aires. The old fortress,
which includes a
botanical garden of
native flora, mostly
cacti, affords wonderful views of
the quebrada .

Tilcara
52 miles (84 km) NW of Jujyu. *
5,640. @ n Lavalle s/n, (0388) 495-
5720. _ Fiesta de la Pachamama
(Aug) . Museo Arqueológico
Doctor Eduardo Casanova Belgrano
445, Plaza Alvarez Prado. Te l (0388)
495-5006 . Open 9am-noon, 2-6pm
daily . & Museo Irureta de Bellas
Artes Cnr, Belgrano & Bolívar. Te l
[phone] . Open 10am-1pm,
3-6pm daily . =

Sculpture at Museo
Arqueológico Doctor
Eduardo Casanova

Uquia
62 miles (100 km) N of San Salvador
de Jujuy. * 315 . Iglesia San
Francisco de Padua Open 10am-
noon, 2-4pm daily.
Set against a backdrop of red-
rock mountains and lush
quebracho trees, Uquia is a
picturesque village centered
around a delightful square
and a pretty church. The
17th-century Iglesia de San
Francisco de Paula and its
tower are painted in spotless
white with bright green doors.
The church is famous for its
unusual paintings of “warring
angels” from Collao in Bolivia.

Dominated by the dramatic
mountains that surround it,
Tilcara is a tiny village with a
pleasant, easy-going air. It is
quiet for most of the year,
although it attracts a large
number of visitors when the
annual Pachamama festival is
celebrated. For centuries, the
town has been a hub of crafts-
men and artists and many
galleries and workshops
remain today.
Housed in a lovely colonial
building, Museo Arqueológico
Doctor Eduardo Casanova has
a collection of pre-Columbian

The whitewashed façade of Museo Ernesto
Soto Avendaño, Tilcara