Abancay (from Quechua language: Hamanqay, Amanqay, or Amankay, meaning lily), founded in 1572 as Santiago de los Reyes de Abancay, is a city in southern-central Peru. It is the capital of both the Apurímac Region and the Abancay Province, and serves an important cultural, economic, and political role in Apurímac.
Name
The origin of the word Abancay might have two possible explanations:
- It is a transliteration to Spanish of the Quechuan word amancay, meaning lily.
- It originates from the Quechuan awanqay, meaning weaving place, which is the version proposed by Rodolfo Cerrón Palomino, a Peruvian linguist.
Geography
Abancay is located at an elevation of above sea level in the southern Peruvian Andes, above the Pachachaca River, and straddles the Marino River.
| source 2 = Plataforma del Estado Peruano (precipitation 1965–2012)
History
Abancay was already a populated area before the arrival of the Incas. It was the frontier of the Quechua-Inca cultural influence area of the Chancas, an ethnic native group of Peru. Its name comes from a flower native to the region called . When the Spanish arrived, they transliterated the word and named the city Abancay, Villa de los Reyes ("Abancay, Village of the Kings"), which was later reduced to Abancay, its current name. Abancay was the location of the Battle of Abancay between the forces of the Conquistadores Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro. Abancay was mentioned in the first Cronicas (Pedro Cieza de León) as an encomienda dedicated to the cultivation of sugar cane for the production of aguardiente.
thumb|Abancay Cathedral's Bells Tower
There is a traditional tale about the foundation of the city recorded by Guillermo Vidalegut, a local journalist, in his book "Alma y Rostro de Abancay", who, inspired by Ricardo Palma's Tradiciones Peruanas, gathered local traditional stories. As the story goes, during colonial times, the town was located above the valley, in one of the skirts of the Ampay mountain, in a place which is now known as Ccorhuani. One day, the statue of the Virgin Mary known as Our Lady of the Rosary, Patroness of the village, mysteriously disappeared from the local Church. The people, fearing robbery and claiming sacrilege, searched day and night until a shepherd found the statue standing above an immense boulder by the valley. The people believed that the thieves had left the statue in fear of being discovered by the search parties. The statue was returned in a procession back into town. A few weeks later, the same disappearance occurred again and another search ensued. The statue was again found in the same spot where it was found before. Lo and behold, the disappearance happened a third time. The people never understood why or how this was happening. Finally, it was suggested that maybe the statue was asking for a shrine in the valley at the location where it was being found. The town then built a small Chapel there, and it became a place of constant visits by the people. Before long, it became the center of activity, and the entire town was moved to where is located today. The statue of Our Lady of the Rosary still sits above the immense boulder which is located on the right side of the Cathedral.
thumb|300px|Ocampo Park in Abancay
Economy
Abancay is the agricultural center, as well as the industrial center of most of Apurímac. Sugar is milled, along with rum and other liquor distillation. There are copper mines in the area, and they are also known for their sericulture.