Discover San Pedro de Atacama

One of San Pedro de Atacama most popular tour is the Moon Valley tour. It takes you to an amazing journey through the Salt Mountain Range, just beside San Pedro de Atacama; here you can observe a geological phenomenon that give shape to enormous mineral sculptures formed by wind and rain. You will visit a nice viewpoint where you can see San Pedro de Atacama, the Death Valley and the Moon Valley.

DEATH VALLEY

On this range, located 2 kilometers to the west of San Pedro de Atacama, you can observe a geological phenomenon of enormous mineral sculptures formed by the wind and rain. San Pedro de Atacama geological origin comes from an emerged lake, where the old horizontal layers of sediment and rock, dating at around 23 million years, were pushed and folded by the movements of the Earth’s crust, lifting the Andes Mountain Range, and leaving some layers in a vertical position. The Salt Mountain Range has been shaped throughout time by the rain and the wind, giving rise to enormous shapes and mineral brilliance made up of salt hills, gypsum and clay, spectacular natural sculptures, of various colors as a result of the minerals that form part of this natural attraction in San Pedro de Atacama.

MOON VALLEY

This site, located 19 kilometers from San Pedro de Atacama, was declared a Sanctuary of Nature. Its landscape resembles the surface of the moon with small but sharp crested hills formed by the wind, such as the three Maria’s and the amphitheater.

This valley, located on the Salt Mountain Range, heading west from San Pedro de Atacama and bordering the Salar de Atacama, is beautiful for its resemblance to the surface of the moon. This geological site situated at 2,550 meters above sea level, the same than San Pedro de Atacama, formed 22 million years ago when the folding of the upper strata of the earth’s crust began to take place. In San Pedro de Atacama the volcanic activity of the time deposited bits of rock and ash on these folds. Today it is made up of sedimentary rocks with fragments of salt, gypsum, chlorate, borate, and clay. The wind from San Pedro de Atacama and the atmospheric conditions have carved sculpture shapes with sharp crests, hilltops and waves that transform the landscape of San Pedro de Atacama into the most extraordinary in our country. The absence of animal and vegetable life as well as the lack of humidity makes this the most inhospitable corner on Earth.

We invite you to visit San Pedro de Atacama, and enjoy all the beautiful tourist attractions San Pedro de Atacama have to offer.

Archeological Tour of San Pedro de Atacama

One of San Pedro de Atacama most popular tour is the archeological tour, a history journey though the Chilean archeological capital, San Pedro de Atacama, visiting the Tulor village, the Quitor Pukara and the archeology Museum in San Pedro de Atacama.

TULOR VILLAGE

Located at 10 kilometers from San Pedro de Atacama. This pre-Columbian village is an example of the sedentary lifestyle of the region. You may visit the area on your own or take an excursion leaving from San Pedro de Atacama. This small village is around 3.000 years old. It had a population of approximately 150 to 200 inhabitants during that period. Their main activity was ceramic, textile, agriculture, and livestock farming, like San Pedro de Atacama. The architecture of the time had circular clay buildings, joined together, and with patios and passageways that communicated with one another.

There’s a lot of wind in San Pedro de Atacama that makes sand buried this village and today on this location you can find a museum that has reproduced the original homes with the same elements of the period. There is a viewpoint that allows you to see the formation of San Pedro de Atacama.

PUKARÁ DE QUITOR

This impressive construction in San Pedro de Atacama dates back to the XII century, and is made up blocks built with large rocks alternating with smaller ones, and joined with mud. Terracing and retaining wall techniques were used in its construction and around 200 structures can be seen, some larger than others. Its name comes from a pre-Hispanic agricultural group “Ayllu de Quitor”, whose farming fields started at the foot of the Pukara and fed by the San Pedro de Atacama River. Its location and structure was mainly for defensive and strategic purposes for San Pedro de Atacama, and as an ancient route, that would later be occupied by the Inca when they dominate San Pedro de Atacama.

The Spaniards who rode horses and carried guns invaded it in 1540. The natives had never seen horses, metal helmets or guns, which made it easy for the Spaniards to conquer them. All the native chiefs from San Pedro de Atacama were beheaded.

The Pukará de Quitor, in San Pedro de Atacama, was restored in 1981 and was declared a National Monument in 1982.

PADRE LE PAIGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

This museum has been named after its founder, a Jesuit who arrived in 1955 to take over the parish in San Pedro de Atacama. This man performed an in depth archaeological study collecting diverse indigenous objects.

After the death of father Le Paige, this university has remained in charge of the conservation of these objects as well as of the continuous investigation in San Pedro de Atacama. You can currently see a sample of how the Atacamanean villages evolved and how the Tiawanaku, Inca, and Spanish cultures influenced them. This sample holds over 380,000 archaeological specimens that include ceramic, clothing, precious metals, textiles, mummies, and engravings.

We invite you to visit San Pedro de Atacama, and enjoy all the beautiful tourist attractions San Pedro de Atacama have to offer.

Amazing Destination - San Pedro de Atacama

 In this amazing tour in San Pedro of Atacama you will be visiting Hierbas Buenas, a place where you will find a great variety of rock art, characteristic from San Pedro of Atacama. Then you will visit the Rainbow Valley (Valle del Arcoíris), which is famous for its mountains and multi-colored rock formations. The tour ends in a beautiful village in the mountain heights known as Rio Grande befero going back to San Pedro of Atacama.

HIERBAS BUENAS

Located 68 km (42 miles) from San Pedro de Atacama and 23 km (14.3 miles) from the deviation towards Rio Grande. This place was used in Pre-Hispanic times by the ancient caravan travelers as a place to rest in their expeditions in search for exchange of goods. The people of San Pedro of Atacama would carve messages on the stones for the travelers. In the carvings we can find shamanic forms as well as animals, mainly llamas, foxes and flamingoes.

RAINBOW VALLEY

Following the route and taking the deviation from the route from San Pedro of Atacama towards Matancilla, at km 3.2 (mile 1.98) to the left you will find the Rainbow Valley, an area surrounded by mountains and multi-colored rock formations. Here you will find mountains in ochres, greens, blacks, purples, browns, and endless shades of colors to feast your eyes on.

RÍO GRANDE

In the basin of the “big river”, 90 kilometers from San Pedro de Atacama, towards Calama, lies this village with a population of around 96 habitants. Its location was strategic, as it was the forced passageway for caravans traveling between San Pedro de Atacama and Chiu-Chiu. Proofs of this are the surrounding archeological sites that show petroglyphs of the guanaco hunters during the pre-Hispanic period.

Today, Rio Grande’s settlers cultivate corn, lettuce, alfalfa, potatoes, as well as raise sheep, llamas, birds, rabbits, and goats, which are marketed in Calama and San Pedro of Atacama. They also manufacture textile and handmade goods in a lower scale, wich can be found in San Pedro of Atacama.

Construction in Rio Grande is different from San Pedro of Atacama and is characterized by the use of quarry stone on the walls put together with mortar clay, straw and clay roofs, with cactus and carob beams.

We encourage you to visit the amazingplace, among other attractions from San Pedro of Atacama.

Enjoy the experience of a San Pedro de Atacama without boundaries!

The beautiful town of San Pedro de Atacama is named after its patron saint San Pedro (Saint Peter), and the word Atacama, which, according to the ancestors comes from “Accatchca” in the Cunza language and means Head of the Country. Over time, this term underwent many modifications until it arrived at today’s pronunciation. San Pedro de Atacama was conquered by the Incas in 1450 and then by the Spaniards in 1540 becoming a cabildo (a Chilean government seat) in 1555.

The town square from San Pedro de Atacama is without a doubt one of the main attractions of Chile’s archeological capital. There is nothing better than to watch time go by under its enormous pepper or molle trees which will cool you off in the summer evenings in San Pedro de Atacama.

On one side of the square you will find the San Pedro de Atacama Church; undoubtedly one of the most beautiful churches of the north of Chile. Its construction date is unknown, however, it served as a parish in 1641 and in 1951 it was declared a National Monument.  The walls are made of adobe and the ceilings are made of Chañar tree, locust tree, and clay, which were later covered with cactus wood. This one of the main attraction from San Pedro de Atacama.

Across from the square you will find the Municipality of San Pedro of Atacama, the police station, the post office, the Padre le Paige Museum (parto of the Archeological Tour you can make in San Pedro de Atacama) and the tourist information office (SERNATUR).

Downtown San Pedro de Atacama still preserves the structure and construction of the Spanish colonial influence, antique adobe houses with interior yards, and roofs made of clay and hay.

Today’s dirt streets from San Pedro de Atacama have been treated with vichufita, a product derived from salt, which allows them to retain the original look causing less pollution. Not all street from San Pedro de Atacama have this treatment,but you’ll enjoy them anyway.

The main street from San Pedro de Atacama is Caracoles, so named because in earlier days miners left from here to work in the Caracoles silver mine discovered in 1870 by Diaz Gana.

Now a days you can find nice restaurants, tourist agencies and stores in San Pedro de Atacama, which welcome tourists from all over the world.

One of the world’s most fascinating and exotic destinations, San Pedro de Atacama never fails to surprise and delight. Whether you favor high culture or high adventure sanpedrochile.com will guide your way into a fantastic experience. http://www.sanpedrochile.com/en/

Discover the beauty of San Pedro de Atacama

Discover the beauty of San Pedro de Atacama in the most arid desert in the world. It is an unforgettable experience; however, to discover the thousand-year-old mysteries that surround this culture, it is without any doubt, the greatest secret that this land hides. What better way to learn about the Atacama lifestyle in depth, than to take a series of tours that combine the wonders of the desert and the direct contact with its original cultures.

The Tourism Association of Ecored Lickan Antay in San Pedro de Atacama was created to be able to represent a group of indigenous Atacama families, from San Pedro de Atacama who opens the doors of their mud and straw built houses with ancestral designed roof to share their way of life. They offer accommodation services, food, local products and a wide variety of tourist activities in San Pedro de Atacama.

 

The day’s activities begin with the Communal Trail, an activity that invites you to share the commoners from San Pedro de Atacama daily life concerning their traditional activities such as the production of Pataska grain, Chañar and Carob tree syrup and llama breeding. Later followed by lunch at the country restaurant, near San Pedro de Atacama, “Coyo Trails.” In the evening, the Ancestral Caravan is a must; a llama-led hike on ancestral routes to see the spectacular sunset that dyes the Andean sky red from San Pedro de Atacama.

At night and while you wait for a tasty llama BBQ, you can enjoy an Andean Astronomy session, where the stars from San Pedro de Atacama are contemplated and their relationship with the daily life of the Atacaman people is explained.

This is your opportunity to do Fair Tourism, in San Pedro de Atacama with the indigenous local community, where it supports and strengthens our activity, generating the possibility that the natives from San Pedro de Atacama will not have to immigrate to the city and that they keep on generating their in San Pedro de Atacama culture in the most arid desert of the world.

We invite you to join us in this unique experience in San Pedro de Atacama, soaking in the spirit of the Lickan Antaynique culture in the Atacama Desert!!!

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