Note 428 — Chapter LXXXVII

The city of Guamanga, now called Ayacucho, is in lat. 12° 59´ S., and long. 73° 59´ W. From the steep mountains which overhang it on the south-west, the city presents to the view a mass of red tiles, with church towers rising here and there, surrounded by gardens of fruit trees, which extend in different directions up the sides of the mountains, while to the north-west is the broad grassy plain called Pampa del Arco, and the view is bounded in that direction by the frowning heights of Condor-canqui, at the feet of which the famous battle of Ayacucho was fought. The streets run at right angles, sloping gradually from north to south, and in the centre is the plaza mayor. On the south side of the plaza are the handsome stone cathedral and the cabildo or court-house. The other three sides are occupied by private houses on handsome arcades, with stone pillars and circular arches. The south part of the town was formerly broken up by a deep ravine, but in 1801 the Spanish intendente, Don Demetrio O’Higgins, spanned it with a number of well built stone bridges. On the west side there is an alameda or avenue of double rows of willow trees, by the side of which a stream of clear water flows down and supplies the city. On either hand the hills rise up abruptly, covered with fruit trees, and hedges of prickly pears. There are more than twenty churches, built of limestone, with well proportioned towers. The climate, as Cieza de Leon says, is delicious, and Ayacucho is one of the pleasantest places in Peru.