Note 137 — Chapter LXXIX

Holguin, Tordoya, and Gómez de Alvarado are said to have been buried in the little church of San Cristóbal at Guamanga, near the head of the avenue leading to the Chupas road. But Cojo Arias told me of the tradition that Gómez de Tordoya was not buried with the others, but in the church of La Merced, nearer the centre of the town. In 1887 a statue of a warrior was found in a niche in La Merced, recumbent on a mortuary bed, embracing his sword. It is of sandstone and 6-1/2 feet long. It no doubt represents Gómez de Tordoya, probably due to the piety of his cousin Garcilaso de la Vega. The Indians of Guamanga (Ayacucho) are renowned as sculptors.