Chilca in 1964

Abstract

Chilca lies in the Pampa de Anta at an altitude of about 3200m, 32km north-west of the district capital of Cuzco. Chilca is fortunate to be located on the Pan American highway which links it to Cuzco and which winds on through the Central Andes to reach Lima some 650km away. The Pampa is also crossed by a highway that links Cuzco with the Urubamba and Convención Valley in the hot wet tropics to the east, and the Cuzco-Quillabamba railway crosses the Pampa with a stop at Izcuchaca, a thriving market and trucking centre (see Figure 3.5). The district, Anta, had a total population, at the 1961 census, of about 26 000, and comprised a number of small hamlets (aldeas), three townships, several haciendas and numerous communities.