Larry Memmott's Blog

Back on the Patacamaya-Tambo Quemado road, you arrive at the Qilqata Chapel (sometimes Kelcata) only about seven miles from the turnoff to Curahuara de Carangas.  The chapel is only a third of a mile off the road and is plainly visible on your left. Qilqata is a cute little chapel with a walled courtyard and one bell tower.  It is one of the 11 chapels restored/preserved with funding from the U.S. Embassy.

Interior of the chapel, before and after restoration

I just realized that I don’t have any really good photos of the chapel after restoration.  I’ll put up a photo someone else took, but you’ll have to overlook the lens distortion that has the chapel, and especially the bell tower, almost falling over backwards.

Although a map hardly seems necessary given the simplicity of the trip, here’s a small, simple map that give an idea of where things are:

Qilqata was the site of the Wilancha, the spectacular Aymara ceremony for blessing the work that was done to restore all these chapels.  The post of the Wilancha also contains a number of photos of the chapel and the area around it.