Queshuachaca

About

Queshuachaca (from Cuzco Quechua q’iswa chaka 'straw-rope bridge', Quechua pronunciation: [q’es.wa cha.ka]) is the last remaining Inca rope bridge, consisting of grass ropes that span the Apurímac River near Huinchiri, in Quehue District, Canas Province, Peru. Even though there is a modern bridge nearby, the residents of the region keep the ancient tradition and skills alive by renewing the bridge annually, during the second week of June. Several family groups from the communities of Chaupibanda, Choccayhua, Huinchiri and Collana Quehue, have each prepared a number of grass-ropes to be formed into cables at the site, others prepare mats for decking, and the reconstruction is a communal effort. In ancient times the effort would have been a form of tax (Mit'a), with participants expected to perform the rebuilding; nowadays the builders have indicated that effort is performed to honor their ancestors and the Pachamama (Earth Mother). The event has also been supported by video productions for Nova and the BBC and is the subject of an independent documentary titled The Last Bridge Master (in-production, 2014). It is becoming a minor tourist attraction, with some small tolls charged for tourists to use the road during the festival to walk the newly completed bridge. In 2009 the government recognized the bridge and its maintenance as part of the cultural heritage of Peru, and there

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.