Founded in 1582 by the Spanish, Salta is a large Argentinian city in the Lerman valley known for its architecture and the gateway to several one day tours to places such as Humahuaca ravine (World Heritage Place), Cafayate (an its vineyards) and San Antonio de los Cobres (with fantastic views and landscapes). It was initially built as an outpost between Lima, the vice royalty capital and Buenos Aires. It later became an important military and strategic point between Peru and Argentine.
The silver mined in the Potosi mines, Bolivia, came through Salta leaving behind a wealthy, beautiful city with several churches and cathedrals. Despite being part of the poorest region in Argentine, Salta has at least 20 rich neighborhoods whose mansions stand out for their grandeur and stylist architecture.
- Day 1:
We arrived very late at night to Salta from a long bus trip, 11 hours from San Pedro including customs crossing. On the next morning, we walked from our Airbnb place to the 9th of July square, the city center, to join a two-hour free city tour of the Salta.
In the square we saw the neoclassical cathedral built by Italian architects, which was closed to the public on that day; the cabildo, the largest and oldest of the country, former administrative center of the city; some 19th century buildings (20 de Febrero club and a palace next door) and the highly recommended Museum of High Mountain Archeology, which houses artifacts from the Inca civilization, including the frozen bodies of three children found in a nearby volcano.
We left the Main square a walked a few hundred meters to go to the Chruch of Saint Francis. This was the first church built by the Spanish in Salta and had to be reconstructed several times due to attacks from the indigenous population who did not agree with the imposition of Catholicism. Is a neoclassical church built by both Italian and German architects, so it has an eclectic architecture.
We kept going to the oldest convent, a nuns convent of Saint Bernando, still a cloistered convent in the middle of the bustling city center and the first to be constructed in the city.
The wealthy neighborhood near the Güemes monument was our next stop. Most of the mansions in the neighborhood where built in 70s together with the new headquarters of the 20 de Febrero club located there (the old headquarters in the Main Square were expropriated by the government). Here live not only the wealthy Salta people, but some of the most influential.
The tour ended in the gastronomic neighborhood of Salta, with some recommendations on the best places to eat empanadas, craft beer places and Andes menus. We decided to try the famous Salta empanadas.
After lunch we went to the Museum of High Mountain Archeology with a permanent exhibition of Inca artifacts found the on three tombs of the sacrificed children. These frozen mummies and their artifacts provide a real treasure trove for Inca scholars. Photos were not permited inside the museum.
We ended the visit of Salta going to two more churches: the azure Candelaria church and the neogothic Merced church, both near the main square.
- Day 2:
It was Sunday, and unlike Peru or Chile for Argentinian people Sunday is a rest day, so most things were closed until well past midday. We also took advantage of the rest to visit some artisans markets on the streets and enjoyed of a grilled meat lunch in the main square.
We walked to the main bus terminal to check a few things for our last day in Salta and took the nearby cableway up the San Bernardo hill which has excellent views of the city and the valley.
- Day 3: Humahuaca ravine
Crossing the tobacco and sugar cane plantations near Salta and Jujuy, and the tropical high jungle of the Yunkas farther ahead, the way to the ravine traverses different landscapes found in the north of Salta province. The Humaca ravine is a beautiful gorge considered World Heritage since 2003 due to its landscapes, its traditional villages, its culture and archaeological remains.
After a two hour trip, our first stop in the ravine was in the small village of Pumamarca, famous for its seven colored hill. One-floor adobe or brick brown houses greet its visitors together with a colorful artisans market with textiles, ceramics and other souvenirs. A number of restaurants with traditional food can be found in its dusty streets. There is also a 3 km walk around the seven color hill that we did not have time to complete.
The hills consists of sedimentary rocks and the colors are due to the different oxidation levels of the rock. Further up on the Andes, continental deposits of rock and volcanic rock like basalt can be found. As with many other parts of these mountains, these are marine rocks.
Because of the hour, the tour guide changed plans and decide to go directly to Humahuaca, deep in the ravine, so we could have lunch earlier. On the way, we passed by Posta de Hornillos, an important strategic point during the colonial times, a rest place for cattle going south towards Salta. On the way, we stopped in Huacalera where Argentinians have built a huge sundial to mark the Capricorn Tropic, the imaginary line at 23 degrees.
The land of this ravine is very fertile and full of vegetables such as carrots, spinach, beetroot, onions, etc. Trucks full of produce go to Salta, Jujuy, Santiago and other areas, there are even some trucks coming all the way from Buenos Aires.
In terms of geology, this was were the two major tectonic plates clash thousands years ago. On top of these mountains there is a yellow layer, yacorai, made of marine fossils. As mentioned before this is mostly sedimentary rock, there almost no copper in this area. Copper, silver and gold are found in the Andes high plateau, closer to the volcanic area.
Humahuaca is a small town of 15000 inhabitants whose main economic activity is cattle herding and mining. The highlights of this town are the monument of independence, built in 1950 to honor the heroes of Argentina’s independence from Spain, the cabildo (town hall) and the church which has Cusco art paintings.
We stayed in Humahuaca for two hours and this was the longest stop of the tour. Almost all of us ate at the restaurant the tour guide had booked for us where we tried some local cuisine like locro (a pumpkin stew with meat) and llama milanesa (a breaded llama steak with salad). After lunch we had free time to explore Humahuaca and its market at our leisure.
Humahuaca was the furthest point within the ravine, so we slowly started our way back to Salta. Tilcara, where we were supposed to stop before lunch, was the next stop. In Tilcara we did not visit the village itself, rather its archeological ruins, the Pukara.
A fortified settlement, the Pukara was inhabited long before the Inca but there is some influence from the Inca Empire. In the settlement, the houses on the top of the hill belonged to the nobility whereas those closer to the valley belonged to the poor people. Round houses were built before the Incas, square houses are a clear influence of the Inca architecture. There is a cemetery where archeologists found over a hundred tombs. Around ten percent of the settlement was reconstructed using modern techniques.
The entrance to Pukara de Tilcara is usually 350 Argentinian Pesos per person for foreigners but we went on Monday and the entrance was free. It also includes a small botanical garden with specimens from the region such as the Cardon cacti, the large one, used in doors and roofs for its lightweight wood. For those unwilling to go into the Pukara, there were some more shops outside and a small coffee shop.
The Painter’s Palette, in front of Maimara’s cemetery, was the last stop of the tour. The palette is the product of oxidation of different minerals which gives the hill its fantastic colors. From here, it was a two and a half hour trip back to Salta.
- Day 4:
We were flying later in the evening for Buenos Aires and we had to leave our Airbnb place before 10 a.m. We picked our staff after a short run and went to a nearby shopping mall with our luggage to start organizing our visits to Buenos Aires and Iguazu. Once finished, we walked to the main square were we ate a set menu for lunch. We strolled around the city center for some time, taking more photos until it was time to leave for the airport.
