Sara Sara, Stratovolcano in Parinacochas Province, Peru.

Sara Sara is a stratovolcano in Peru's Andes that rises above 5,500 meters and is built from multiple layers of lava flows and domes. The mountain's structure shows how volcanic material accumulated in distinct phases to create its current form.

The volcano formed through multiple phases of activity during the Pleistocene and experienced its most recent eruption roughly 14,000 years ago. This extended history of volcanic action shaped the mountain's geological development across tens of thousands of years.

Sara Sara was a place of worship in Inca times, when a 15-year-old girl was sacrificed on its summit in a capacocha ceremony. Her mummified body, found in 1996 by José Antonio Chávez and Johan Reinhard, is now kept at the Museo Santuario de Altura del Sur Andino in Arequipa. On the northeast flank lies the archaeological site Inkapa Tianan, and on the south flank the Inca citadel of Ayroca, where stretches of the Inca road can be seen.

A disused road crosses the southern flank and climbs to 4,600 m, giving vehicle access high on the mountain. Pausa, 12 km away, is the nearest town. The summit ridge runs north-northwest to south-southeast, with the highest point at its southern end. Water from the mountain's foot feeds local irrigation.

In September 1996 José Antonio Chávez and Johan Reinhard found the mummified body of a 15-year-old girl, the "dama del Sara Sara", on a stone platform at the summit, curled in fetal position among three gold and silver figurines, coca leaves and spondylus-shell carvings. She was part of a capacocha ceremony and is now kept at the Museo Santuario de Altura del Sur Andino in Arequipa.