Quebrada de Humahuaca
A mountainous and semiarid valley in the northwestern province of Jujuy, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage cultural landscape.
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Tumbaya is a village of about 430 inhabitants (census 2010), located on National Road RN9, 45 km from San Salvador de Jujuy at 2,034 meters above sea level.
The Chapel of Nuestra Señora de Dolores y Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria of Tumbaya stands in the center of an exceptionally wide atrium that faces the main square. For sure originally much older, a legend on one of the beams of the choir indicates a later date: "This church was built the year of 1796 by the D.D. Josef Alexo of Alberro natural of Córdoba." It was again rebuilt in 1873.
The roof truss of the single nave made of cardón wood is prolonged to the exterior and is juxtaposed to a solid tower steeple, built with five volumes that are superimposed in telescopic form. It has walls of adobe, of approximately a meter thick on stone foundations, and the exterior has lime plaster and is ocher-colored.
The photos above show a band of sikuris and a misachico during Easter Week of 2021 in Tumbaya.
© Photos: Comisión Municipal de Tumbaya
© Summary: Binder & Haupt, Universes in Universe
A mountainous and semiarid valley in the northwestern province of Jujuy, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage cultural landscape.
Trichocereus atacamensis, known as "cardón" or "pasacana" is a cactus species characteristic of northwestern Argentina.
Its cylindrical trunk can reach 50 cm in diameter, and up to 15 m in height forming candelabra-like branches, with thorns up to 15 cm long. It is a plant of high longevity, but of slow growth. A 10 m tall cardón can be around 180 years old. It grows on rocky slopes and plains, withstanding extreme conditions of cold and aridity at an altitude between 2,000 and 3,500 meters.
Its structural tissue hardens when it dries, from which is obtained what is known as cardón wood, traditionally used in construction, especially for the beams and roof trusses.
At present, the cardón is a protected species. It is forbidden to cut it, and only the production of handicrafts with fallen or dried specimens is authorized.
Flowers of cardón are yellowish white. The fruit is sweet and is used in the elaboration of jams or syrups.
The siku is a traditional wind instrument of the Andean high plateau, usually consisting of two rows of cane tubes of different lengths, similar to a pan flute. The sounds are produced by blowing over the hole of each of the tubes perpendicular to its axis, resting the lower lip on the rim. It is an instrument that is present in most traditional homes.
Whoever plays a siku is a sikuri. In the framework of a band, it is played in the form of a dialogue in which the melody is constructed by alternating the execution of the notes that form it between two or more musicians, accompanied by drums, snare drums, and matracas.
Offering their music to the Virgin and pilgrimages during Holy Week or other religious festivities are the most important events for the sikuris bands. In the last decades more and more women are participating in the sikuris bands. There are even several all female bands.
Misachicos are small processions organized by families or groups carrying the image of a saint (belonging to a chapel or a family) adorned with ribbons and flowers. The march can last hours or days, according to the distance to be covered. It is accompanied by sikuris (players of siku, the Andean pan flute) or other instrumental groups, religious chants and, sometimes, groups of dancers.