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HISTORY :

Etymologically the word Catacaos derives from the words CATAC (Valle Grande) and CCAOS (Exuberant). The Catacaos region was populated by the Tallán culture that possibly came from Central America: Mayas or Aztecs, who, led by the great Mec Non and later by Ñariwualac, organized and formed the Tallán nation (Tallán by the use of the Taclla), as an agricultural work tool.

During colonial times, it was commandery of Indians, receiving the name of San Juan de Catacaos when the Indigenous Community was created. At the beginning of the time of the Republic, we rejected the life presidency of Don Simón Bolívar in 1828, for this reason the Constituent Congress granted him the title of "Heroic Villa" according to the law of January 2, 1828.



On October 28, 1868, it was elevated to the category of "City." And by law No. 25135 promulgated on December 7, 1989 it is declared "Artisan Capital of the Grau region".



The city of Catacaos is also the cradle of illustrious citizens who have stood out in different fields of human fulfillment and of those who still continue to shine with their own light in the different fields of culture: Dr. José Cayetano Heredia Sánchez, Father of the " Peruvian Medicine ”; Arch. Josefina Ramos Cabredo de Cox; Prof. Jacobo Cruz Villegas and Prof. Carlos Edmundo Zapata Antón. they were historians of the small country.





EVOLUTION:

• In 1547 the Peacemaker La Gasca, ordered the construction of the San Juan Bautista temple, where the Tambo de los Curacas existed, and formalized the naming of the five Tallane communities with the names of San Juan de Catacaos, San Martín de Sechura, San Francisco de Paita, San Lucas de Colán and Santo Domingo de Olmos.





• On April 13, 1645, the San Juan de Catacaos community bought its lands for the second time from the Royal Spanish Crown, through the mediation of RP. Juan de Morí Alvarado and then through the years he has had to continue defending.





• Catacaos has been a Parish since 1645 and it belonged to the party of Piura and the department of Trujillo.

Our city has many authors, also with a hymn that is made by Gregorio Mendoza carrera and Juan Juárez Cruz music.





• On June 21, 1825, Catacaos is elevated to the category of district by decree signed by General Don Simón Bolívar, as well as Frías, Chalaco and Sechura.





• On January 11, 1828, Catacaos received the dignified title of HEROICA VILLA, to perpetuate the action of the electors when they spoke frankly and openly against the Constitution of General Simón Bolívar for life.





• On 1797, on August 5, the Protomedic Dr. José Cayetano Heredia Sánchez was born in Arequipa street.





• In 1834, the province was Piura, the Trujillo Department, with the following districts: Catacaos, Chalaco, Frías, Huancabamba, Paita, Piura, Quero cotillo, Sechura and Tumbes.





• Catacaos is elevated to the rank of the city on October 28, 1868, by the law issued by the Congress of the Republic.







WHY HEROICA VILLA?



Because the entire town in 1827, protested, by the appointment of General Simón Bolívar, as president for life of Peru, in a public act held in the Plaza de Armas.

The certification of the Superior Decree says: That the collection of Laws, Decrees and Orders, published in Peru, from the year 1821 to December 31, 1859, by Doctor Juan Oviedo, corresponding to the Ministry of Government, Worship and Public Works , is to the Law of January 11, 1828, on the nomination of Heroica Villa, the town of Catacaos belonging to the province of Piura of the Department of Liberty.

The General Constituent Congress of Peru Decree:



´´Single Article.- The town of Catacaos, belonging to the Province of Piura of the department of La Libertad will be called HERICA VILLA, of the same name´´





The district of Catacaos is located 12 kilometers south west of the city of Piura; It limits to the north with Piura and Castilla, to the south with the district of La Arena and Curamori; to the East with Olmos and the Province of Morropón; and to the West with the Provinces of Paita and Sullana.



Geographically it is located between the coordinates 5 ° 15'42 '' of South latitude and 80 ° 40'27 '' of West Longitude; in an area of ​​tropical dry forest at 25 m.a.s.l .; it is hot most of the year, giving us a temperature that oscillates between 16 ° C minimum and 33 ° C maximum; with a humidity of 66% as an annual average.



It is the most traditional corner of the department of Piura for: its Crafts, Gastronomy, customs and history. The naturally friendly town has approximately 68,000 inhabitants, it is predominantly agricultural, it is surrounded by the most fertile valley in the Region with an area of ​​2,567.78 km2; which produces: pima cotton; native cotton; the Algarrobo, tutelary sign of Piura, king of our flora, not only for its abundance but also for its virtues; the sapote, wood that in the hands of expert craftsmen ends up transformed into wonderful objects, the reed, rush, pumpkin, etc.



Regarding its fauna: the donkey or piajeno and the goat are the other two tutelary signs from Piura that next to the carob tree is the characteristic of the rural landscape of our Catacaos.





TOURIST ATTRACTIONS



San Juan Bautista Temple

Commerce Street

Potters of Simbilá

The Huaca Narihuala



San Juan Bautista Temple:



Built on a dairy farm of Tallanes, a place to give advice on political issues. In this same place the first temple was built in 1547, destroyed by the 1912 earthquake and rebuilt in 1915. Over the years in 1983 due to the rains it was seriously affected in its structures, beginning in 1984 the reconstruction work that culminated in 1995.



The temple has been classified as a replica of the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome due to the amount of wall paintings they present in its main vault; works by artists from Cataca and Trujillo.



Commerce Street:

Historical and beautiful main artery, whose age of two centuries has received thousands of merchants who have mainly sold their products of toquilla straw and rush. Here we will find wonders in goldsmithing: gold and silver; woven in straw, chipped in matte, plastic arts, carved in wood and leather, pottery. Works made by innate artisans whose skill is coveted by foreign and national tourists who visit this sunny land.



Potters of Simbilá:

From Piura, 5 minutes before reaching Catacaos, we find the Simbilá hamlet, land of potters famous for their clay pottery. Scholars and onlookers are amazed to observe the way in which these artisans using as work tools: two pallets, a water container, a river stone, a canvas and a sealer in the sitting or kneeling position create countless utilitarian objects and decorative for home.



The Huaca Narihualac:

Located 5 kilometers south of Catacaos. It was an Administrative and Religious Center of the Tallán region, considered as a fortress of the chief Ñariwalac and a temple or dacha of the god Walac. In its archaeological context, it is made up of artificial promontories of varying magnitude and variable heights, highlighting of all of them the fortress and sanctuary in an area of ​​6 hectares and with a maximum height of 40 linear meters.

Since 1983 the INC - Piura, has been carrying out work in the huaca, considered the Capital of the Tallán Nation, which is characterized by being monumental architectural evidence of adobe with mud mortar, it is the most important in the department of Piura.

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