Hacienda San Jose - Chincha, Peru
by Rebecca Hollman
updated Dec 27, 2018
Hacienda San Jose - Chincha, Peru
Casa Hacienda San Jose is a beautiful estate and plantation steeped in a dark history. This sugar plantation was the first place in all of Peru to bring in African slaves. Eventually, the plantation grew to have over 1,000 slaves living on the property and this drastically impacted the area of Chincha and areas of Peru to this day. Peru’s African heritage and influence can be indirectly traced back to this one plantation. Today, the Hacienda is a hotel and also a tourist attraction, meant to teach and inform people about Peru’s dark history.
Table of Contents
History
The Hacienda first became a sugar plantation in 1688. It originally produced sugar and honey and had about 87 black slaves. As the plantation owner family grew, the Hacienda also grew too. Eventually, a marriage allowed for the combination of this Hacienda with the large manor next door making this property the richest in all of Chincha. Over time the number of slaves working the plantation reached more than 1,000 while only one Spanish family lived there. This was the first place in all of Peru to bring in black slaves. The Afro-Peruvian culture can still be seen in Chincha and the surrounding areas of Peru today.
During the time of the plantation, an underground network of tunnels was built to connect the Hacienda to the ocean, over 17 kilometers away. The tunnels were used to bring in slaves from boats directly to the Hacienda without having to officially buy any of the slaves. Ironically, the slaves at the plantation were the ones who had to hand dig the entire tunnel network. All 1,000 slaves at the plantation had to live and sleep in this tunnel system, with tiny outcrops for “rooms.” The tunnels had no light source and almost no oxygen and were at best, 6 feet tall (at the highest point). Tourists are allowed to go down into the tunnels and you have to walk stooped over the whole time. The claustrophobia and inability to breathe because of lack of oxygen is so apparent. And these slaves had to live in these conditions for their entire life. There was another section of tunnels that was built underneath the church and this was where the slaves that misbehaved were tortured and beaten. The Hacienda has a brutal and awful past, but it is an important historical site to visit to remember what was done and to realize how it has influenced and shaped Peruvian history.
Hotel
Now, the Hacienda is a high-end hotel where visitors can stay in a room still in the original style of the home. The Hacienda still has most of its original furniture, paintings, decor, etc. and so it is a treat just to see so much material from the 1700-1800’s that is still in such good condition. Guests can also enjoy a full restaurant, a pool, and the beautiful grounds around the Hacienda.
You can book a night at Casa Hacienda San Jose HERE
Getting There
Hacienda San Jose is quite a bit out of the way of normal tourist routes. However, PeruHop is now including it as a stop in its bus route and so this has brought a lot more exposure and people to the site. If you don’t travel by PeruHop, you may be able to reach the Hacienda by a rental car or taking a taxi from Chincha. Technically, the manor is in El Carmen which is 20 minutes from the town of Chincha. The Hacienda is close to the town of Pisco and so adding a pisco vineyard tour and visiting Hacienda San Jose in the same day makes a solid day of exploring.
