Arica is the northernmost city in Chile and is the capital of the Arica and Parinacota region. The city is known as the “city of the eternal spring” and “the city that never rains” because of its year-round mild and warm temperatures. Are you staying there for some days, you won’t get bored! Here are 5 things you definitely should visit while you are in Arica.
1.
Agro Market and olives from Azapa
Visit the local fruit- and vegetable market, Asoagro market (location: Panamericana Norte 3501). Arica region has one of the best conditions for growing fresh fruit and vegetable all year round thanks to its year-round warm temperature and different microclimates. You will find some of the cheapest fruit and vegetable here in the whole country. One thing you need to try when visiting Arica is their olives from Azapa. It has a very strong taste, and according to the locals, if you are used to eating olives from Azapa, all others olives are tasteless. You will also find a lot of things and food typically from the neighbor countries Bolivia and Peru. Many locals go there on the weekend to buy fresh food for the upcoming weekend. There is also a huge marked with clothing, shoes, second-hand items, etc., just beside the Agro Market.
2.
Museum San Miguel de Azapa and the mummies
Located approximately 12km from Arica in the valley of Azapa. There are two museums: one showing the production of olives in the Azapa Valley and the other one is an archeological museum, where you can see some of the remains of Chinchorro mummies that was in the region. These mummies are approximately 2,000 years older than the mummies found in Egypt and tell us that there have been people here dating back to more than 10,000 years. The mummies all wear masks, and the whole mummification process is super interesting! They did not differentiate between social status as they did in Egypt where only people from the elite was mummified. The Chinchorro people mummified all their dead, and this is why they found bodies from both babies and old people. Even babies who died by birth got embalmed.
Close by you will find a restaurant called La Pica del Muertito, which is quite famous because it appeared on the TV. There you can get the menu of the day and try some local food – accompanied by local olives! Also, ask for a drink of the guava fruit. Legends say that if you drink guava, you will return to Arica.
3.
St. Mark’s Cathedral
You can’t visit a city without visiting at least one church, or cathedral and Arica isn’t an exception. The St. Marks Cathedral was designed by the French engineer Gustave Eiffel, the same engineer that later build the Eiffel Tower in Paris. This cathedral was built on top of an old church, the Mother Church of Arica, that got destroyed by an earthquake back in 1868. The gothic cathedral is made of iron and coated with colors. Inside you will find a huge bell, this is one of the two bells from the old church. The other one was stolen, probably because it had around 2kg of gold on it!
4.
El Morro de Arica
A hill, located 139m above sea level and gives you a perfect view of Arica, the sea and on days with clear views, you can see as far as to Peru. On top, an 11m tall sculpture named “The Christ of Peace” is placed. It symbolized the peace between Peru and Chile and was a gift from Spain. At the Morro you can find a weapon museum as well, telling about the Pacific war between Chile and Peru. There is an excellent view of the port and the city.
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Arica has around 250.000 inhabitants, and even though it doesn’t sound like a lot, it looks like a real big city when you see it from the top of El Morro! On the right side of the picture, you can see the St. Marks Cathedral. You can walk up to there or take a car.
5.
The Anzota Caves
The odd formation of the caves is formed by time, water and wind and used to be a settlement area for the Chinchorro culture. In 2016 the Chilean government invested in this archeological site to make it a touristic place for people to visit with a promenade, toilets, parking and information signs. Its free of charge to visit, but there is no public transportation going there, so you either have to take a taxi or bike to there. It is located approximately 10km outside the city center.
There are various lookouts, marine birds, and even marine otters can be spotted here. It is a pleasant walk to see the coastline of Arica.
Are you into sports, then Arica has some of the best options for surfing as well. There are various surf schools and places for gear rental. We did not do any surfing when we were there, that must be for our next visit ;)
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This is the first time I am hearing about Arica and I’ve been obviously missing a lot. I am immediately adding it to my bucket list as there are so many things to do there!
Its a really nice city and has some cool things to do :)