27/01/2006 - Today, we decided to take it easy. Take our Gol and drive to the Ruins of Quimes. As I’m not a history expert, i have added information taken from Wikipedia at the end of this post. The weather is very hot. We have lunch at the hotel next to the ruins. Still very cheap although we are in a touristic spot. Then head back to the hotel and take advantage of the swimming pool. What’s very peculiar in this area is that the weather changes all the time. It’s a microclimate and it can be sunny and 35 degrees, then a few hours later rain and 20°. We had planned to go see some vineyards, but we drank too much the night before. We get a pizza. You would think they are similar than in Italy but they are different. They seem to enjoy a lot, i mean a lot of cheese on their pizza. I’m not sure their italian ancestors would approve their recipy. But oh well… it was tasty. Bed time.

On the way to Cafayate, 182 km from San Miguel de Tucumán, the Ruins of Quilmes may be seen; this is a fortified citadel which was raised by the Quilmes Indians. One of the most important archaeological locations in Argentina, the ruins were discovered by etnographer and naturalist Juan Bautista Ambrosetti by the end of 19th century and restored in 1978. The Quilmes people were a indigenous tribe of the Diaguita group settled in the western subandean valleys of today’s Tucumán province, in northwestern Argentina.) They fiercely resisted the Inca invasions of the 15th century, and kept resisting also against the Spaniards for 130 years, until being defeated in 1667. Spanish invaders relocated the last 2,000 survivors to a reservation (”reducción”) 20 km south of Buenos Aires. This 1,500 km journey was made by foot, causing hundreds of Quilmes to die in the process. By 1810 the reduction was abandoned as a result of it had become a ghost town. The place is now the city of Quilmes. The Quilmes Indians were one of the fiercest cultures which resisted the Incas but eventually fell to the Spaniards. Today there are only a few Quilmes left in Tucumán Province, many of whom live with a bitter feeling from the past.

This entry was posted by Administrator on Thursday, February 2nd, 2006 at 1:28 pm and is filed under Petitpiet, Argentina.