Azángaro

Azángaro is a town in southern Peru and the capital of Azángaro Province in the Puno Region. Its colonial church is known as the golden temple, with a rich gold interior, and its adobe bell tower, an example of colonial decorative art, was much disfigured by rains before a collapse brought down most of it. In the adjacent Plaza San Bernardo, Pedro Vilca Apaza was drawn and quartered for his part as a general in the attempt of Tupac Amaru II to free Peru from Spanish rule, and after the execution of Tupac Amaru II leadership of the revolution shifted to Azángaro. The article says the place was discovered by Captain Manuel Ortiz Aguilar in November 1535, when the doctrine of Our Lady of the Rosary was founded and a small church built. Azángaro was raised to city status by the law of 5 February 1825 and made the capital of the province, then with 18 districts, by the law of 21 June 1825. With an estimated 28,526 inhabitants in 2012 it is the fourth city of the Puno department.