Pukará de Quitor
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The ruins of Pukara de Quitor
The Pukará Quitor is a historic residential and refuge of Lika Antai ( Atacama ) in the ayllu Quitor in the municipality of San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. The fort is one of the best architectural achievements of the so-called San Pedro culture.
The ruins of Pukara, there are three kilometers northwest of the oasis of San Pedro de Atacama on an east facing steep slope. By a ravine on the north side of the Río San Pedro flows past. The fort complex is spread over an area of 2.4 ha with up to 80 m height difference to the river. It consists of an ensemble of 164 structures. On the east side it is protected over its entire width by a colossal wall. The wall is 121 m long, on average, 1.2 m deep and measured from the outside up to 3 m high. A type guard tower in the center allows a view into up to 80 km away.
The Pukará Quitor was built around 1300 N. Chr. He served, as well as other of its kind in the region, defending the oasis against groups that came from the high plains of the Andes in present-day Bolivia. It was designed to survive long sieges. The local population it served as a residential development, which could accommodate the people from the surrounding scattered settlements in case of conflict. Around the middle of the 16th century Pukará was conquered and razed by Spanish conquistadors. Since then, he was deserted and left to further decay. 1981, around 1/3 of Pukarás be restored.