There is evidence that Ayacucho was a populated settlement more than 20,000 years ago B.C., because there are archaeological remains to certify it. Thousands of years later other human groups established in the area, setting the bases of the coming cultures. On the 6th and 7th centuries the culture wari appeared, founding its capital and control center in Ayacucho. In this region, the Huari - Tiahuanaco culture would exercise its power, being Ayacucho its sanctuary, during the period from 900 to 1200 A.D. With the incas arrival, the Ayacucho conquest meant the extinction of the other cultures, consolidating the city as part of the incas Empire, and establishing an administrative center in Vilcashuaman. After the Spanish arrival, in 1539 Francisco Pizarro founded the city of Ayacucho as part of a militay strategy, to eradicate the rebel incas from the closest areas. Ayacucho became a very important city, commercially and culturally. During the colonial period, Ayacucho developped a growing textile industry. It was also one of the most important cities during the viceroyalty, for being the archbishopric see and for having his own university. On December the 9th 1824, it took place the Ayacucho battle, a crucial event on the Independence process of Peru. Recently, on the 80s, Ayacucho was hardly hit by the terrorism of Sendero Luminoso, a terrorist group leaded by Abimael Guzmán. Nowadays, Ayacucho shines with a confident light, as a city of great religious fervor and cultural tourism, leaving behind the shadows of a sad decade that we hope will never be recured.