Sara Sara

Sara Sara is a 5,505-metre-high (18,061 ft) volcano lying between Lake Parinacochas and Ocoña River in Peru. It is situated in the Parinacochas Province, Puyusca District, and in the Paucar del Sara Sara Province, in the districts of Pausa and Sara Sara.

Map of Sara Sara, Peru

The Spanish priest Cristobal de Albornoz noted in 1583 that Sara Sara was one of the most important sacred places in the southern part of Peru, with 2,000 colonists sent by the Inca emperor for its service. The American archaeologist Johan Reinhard surveyed a site on its summit in 1983 and he and Peruvian archaeologist Jose Antonio Chavez led a team that uncovered more than a dozen statues and a female Inca mummy (later nicknamed Sarita) on the summit in 1996. Their expedition was transmitted "live" over the Internet. The findings made on Sara Sara are currently stored at the Museo de Santuarios Andinos in Arequipa.

The archaeological group of Sara Sara was recommended to be declared a National Cultural Heritage in 2003.