Ayaviri

Ayaviri stands on the high plateau north of Lake Titicaca, among the cold grasslands of the southern Peruvian Andes. Its position on the route between Cuzco and the altiplano made it a place where travellers and armies passed through country inhabited by Andean communities. The surrounding highlands supported herds as well as settlements in sheltered valleys.

In 1780 the uprising led by Túpac Amaru II spread from the Cuzco region into the northern altiplano. Colonial forces gathered in towns including Ayaviri as news of the revolt approached. Fighting and the upheaval of the rebellion affected the local community and its church, while the struggle continued across neighbouring Azángaro and Lampa. Rebel commanders kept fighting in the plateau after the capture of Túpac Amaru himself.