The Andean churches of Arica and Parinacota are the main landmarks of the Cultural Landscape of Arica and Parinacota, built with stone, earth and Peruvian feather grass (Stipa ichu) in the midst of the amazing landscapes of the valleys, mountains and altiplano. Originating from the end of the XVI century and built around the Silver Route of Potosí, which connected the legendary mineral with the port of Arica, the churches are the result of the Spanish occupation in the southern Andean territory, whose original inhabitants date back to the Tiwanacu and Inca Empires. To this day the humble temples reflect the complex encounter of the ancestral south Andean culture with the European religious and cultural influence. These missionary temples, sporadically visited by parish priests and other clergymen, have been guarded as treasures by their communities via the traditional occupations of majordomos, churchwardens and singers; becoming bastions of rich spirituality and ancestral Andean culture. To this day the temples are the focal point of the Andean community life, where births, deaths, saints’ festivities and many other religious festivities associated with the annual agricultural cycle are celebrated. The Andean churches are the major landmarks and living heritage of the territory of Arica and Parinacota, the Cultural Landscape of America.

Arica and Parinacota, Cultural Landscape of America

The Andean churches of Arica and Parinacota are the main treasures of the Cultural Landscape of Arica and Parinacota, constructed by their communities with stone, earth and Peruvian feather grass (Stipa ichu) in the midst of the amazing landscapes of the valleys, mountains and altiplano. See Arica and Parinacota, Cultural Landscape of America.

• Coast
• Lluta Valley
• Azapa Valley
• Codpa Valley
• Camarones Valley
• Precordillera
• Highland
• Arica and Parinacota