Shincal de Quimivil

Information

It is an archaeological area located in a valley in the Andean foothills of the province of Catamarca in Argentina. Access to the ruins is about 6.5 km from the town of Londres (which is located about 12 km from Belén), where you can find some services such as a tourist information office, shops, restaurants and some accommodation.

The tour is guided and lasts approximately an hour and a half, during which the history of the place and the people who inhabited it is explained. At different points of interest, there are signs providing information about structures such as the Aukaipata (a central plaza), the Collca (a storage building) and others. In addition, you can visit a museum located at the same site, which has explanatory displays, a model representing the site and artifacts recovered during archaeological research.

The structures that can be seen today were built by the Incas on land that had already been occupied by other cultures. El Shincal was a political, religious and commercial center. You can see a Plaza de Armas (a main square) surrounded by walls, and inside it there is a ceremonial platform called Ushnu. You can also see remains of dwellings and two hills with stairways that were used as ceremonial altars.