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Marcapata - Roofing and Drinking

Once every 4 years the communities who live around Marcapata come together to re-thatch the roof of the local church, a process which takes 4 days, as 3 of these days are actually spent drinking.

We departed Cusco in the afternoon, and I´m pretty sure we drove with a Peruvian relative of Michael Schumacher. The usual 4 hour trip took 3 hours, and I´m sure we could have done it in 2 and a half if he wasn´t talking on his phone all the time.

After arriving in this little town on the way to the jungle town of Puerto Maldonado, we found ourselves a basic hostel for the night and then made our way to the church in the main square. Quechua, the language of the Inca Empire, is the preferred language here, even though many people do speak Spanish. I even had one gentleman ask me in perfect English if I was from Canada! It was the warmest welcome I have ever had in Peru. Everybody wanted to pose for a photo and they also all wanted to give us small shots of Cañazo - the local moonshine. Think along the lines of the alcohol you buy at a pharmacy for medicinal purposes and you´ll have a good idea what I´m talking about.

marcapata church roof

Within an hour we were invited to a table with the local shamans to join in the festivities where we were given numerous glasses of Cañazo and Chicha, the local corn beer. Needless to say I struggled to get my camera to focus properly after that........... I should have it checked out.

The church is from the early 1600´s and is on the World Monument Fund listing. A beautiful building which looks more like an old shed than a church. It is built from adobe mud bricks and has the famous grass thatched roof. Approximately 60 – 70 men are perched on the roof of the church pulling out the old grass thatching and throwing it off the church roof where it is collected and brought to the nearby main square.

The entire main plaza is covered in bales of grass and groups of men shake big bundles of dried grass in the air in order to get rid of the smaller and inferior pieces. This old grass is then mixed with newer pieces and gathered in bundles and sent back up to the men on the roof. Everyone joins in, even the priest, with his little canteen of Cañazo around his neck, he joins the communities on the roof of the church for the thatching. In the afternoon he hands out Chicha and food to everyone.

The fable is that the devil came down to the local priest and tried to convince him to leave his religion. The priest declined and the devil changed into a mule in order to trick the priest. Today they use a pully system to carry the bales of thatching up to the roof, and the main hook on the pulley is a wooden mule. It has a big bell around its neck and everytime grass is pullied up, everyone shouts out `Mulo, mulo´ (Mule). In the evening they remove the Mulos and then chase all the villagers around with it as it represents the devil. All the villagers run around screaming and laughing and a few of the braver ones taunt the `devil´.

marcapata near Cusco

The party carries on through the night with the local band banging away on their drums and blowing their trumpets. So very little sleep for us. The next morning we were up early to get some pictures and sat in the Plaza watching the locals arriving looking worse for wear. By 9:30 we were all drinking Cañazo and Chicha.

Many years ago there was a local landlord living in the community by the name of Chavez, he used to be a tyrant and he would whip the locals mercilessly. Nowadays the locals weave thick grass whips which are called Chavez´s. The villagers run around with their whips shouting `CHAVEZ´ before softly whipping someone, much to the amusement of the more inebriated ones. Being the only tourist around, of course I had to watch my behind, so to say. People soon backed off as soon as I had my own Chavez.

The people in this community are lovely, and the fun to be had is innocent and unmalicious, they are so happy to have foreigners join in the festivities and share in their customs. Before we left, the priest allowed us into the church and gave us a little tour. The interior is beautiful and most of the walls and woodwork are intricately painted.

He took us into the roof of the church where the partial remains of an old organ are lying scattered in the corner. We had to crouch to enter through some of the doorways and were rewarded with a beautiful ceiling consisting of amazing Spanish paintings on it.

We said our farewells and travelled back to Cusco. I'll definitely be back next year for a shot of Cañazo with my chavez.