The Cordillera Blanca in Peru is exemplary of different constructs of the high Andes at different periods in history: the narrative process of the chroniclers of the Spanish conquest describes the landscape from an aesthetic viewpoint; the expeditions of European naturalists and travellers from the late 19th century discover its material terms; lastly, the development of «Andeanism», whose reference model is the alpine experience, inaugurates territorial control, culminating with the opening of Huascarán National Park and its inclusion on the World Heritage List at the end of the 20th century. These spatial constructs – and their associated stereotypes – are underpinned by Western ideas of the Andean landscape. They have never taken the long-term relationships of local societies with the space into consideration nor integrated their identities.