Jujuy

The Jujuy valley lies where the mountain routes of northwestern Argentina descend towards greener eastern lands. It leads north to the Quebrada de Humahuaca, a corridor through which people and goods travelled between the high Andes and the valleys. Before Spanish settlement, the region was home to indigenous peoples including the Omaguacas.

Spanish attempts to found a town here met with resistance. The first settlement, Nieva, was established in 1561 but did not endure; a later foundation also failed. In 1593 Francisco de Argañaraz founded San Salvador de Jujuy, which survived. The colonial order brought grants of land and the allocation of conquered indigenous people to settlers, while the surrounding region remained a frontier of conflict throughout much of the seventeenth century.