Paya

La Paya stands where a stream of the same name meets the Calchaquí River, south of Cachi. Its stone enclosures, paths and burial places belonged to a large and substantial settlement in the northern Calchaquí valley. Among its buildings is the Casa Morada, a rectangular structure of carefully worked reddish sandstone distinguished by its Inca design.

The settlement was occupied before Inca expansion and continued to bear signs of imperial influence. The Casa Morada was built within the local settlement, while pottery and metal objects found among its buildings also show links to the wider Inca world. Archaeologists have proposed that La Paya was an important local centre and may have served the administration of the Inca province of Chicoana.