Challwanqa

Chalhuanca lies in a high valley of the southern Peruvian Andes, where the river winds between steep slopes. Its name has been associated with Quechua words for fish and stone. Spanish colonial accounts place the establishment of the town in the 1570s, when indigenous family groups were gathered into four neighbourhoods. Around the central square stood the church of San Francisco, built during the colonial period; the older ayllu names remained attached to the quarters.