Otuzco

Otuzco is a highland city in the La Libertad Region of Peru and the capital of Otuzco Province, known for the sanctuary of the Virgen de la Puerta. The province was created by a law that the National Congress passed on 17 April 1861 and President Ramón Castilla signed on 25 April 1861, dividing the Province of Huamachuco, and the town was later given the rank of city by a law published on 15 November 1890. The surrounding land is steep and mountainous, with rugged valleys, the Tupullo Gorge, the Pollo River and La Ermita mountain, while the warm lower valleys are fertile and grow pineapples and sugar cane. Most inhabitants are mestizo descendants of the Yungas and Quechuas. In the second week of December the festival of the Virgin of the Gate draws thousands of pilgrims, many of whom walk the 73 kilometres from Trujillo.