Abstract
This article presents the worship of Santiago in the Southern Peruvian Andes. Santiago, the Spanish patron saint of violent proselytizing, is one of the most popular saints in this region. This is often attributed to the success of colonial propaganda. This paper, by contrast, emphasizes the active role the indigenous population played in the saint’s adoption, depicting, for instance, his patronage over horses and his role in the blessing of the seed crops. Further, the article sheds light on the spatial dimension of the festivities of Santiago, illustrating the way in which the rituals are related to locations and directions and integrate with one another to create an entire festival season. Thus, it emerges that the celebrations contribute significantly to the constitution of the ritual landscape of the region.