- Address: Jr. Torre Tagle 178, Trujillo, Peru
- Phone: +51 44 227705
- Website: chanchan.gob.pe
- Opening hours: 9.00 - 18.00, Saturday-Sunday - closed
The spirit of mysteries and miracles permeates Peru - the legacy of ancient civilizations attracts adventurers and simply inquisitive tourists. The majestic temples of Machu Picchu , the mysterious drawings on the Nazca plateau, the ancient cities of the Indians, the unique nature in the Amazon delta - all this is the visiting card of the country. But getting closer and closer to Peru , comes the realization that this is only the tip of the iceberg - there are many more sights here, and everyone will be able to interest. It is such a mystery that the ancient city of Chiang Chan appears in Peru. It is located 5 km from Trujillo , in the valley of the river Moche.
A bit of history
Even before Christopher Columbus visited America, the city of Chiang Chan was the capital of the state of Chimor, which existed in the X-XV centuries. The locals were a fairly advanced civilization, later conquered by the Incas. But what is characteristic, decay and devastation began only after the Inca Empire was taken over by the Spaniards. People inhabited the city on various sources from 60 to 100 thousand people, and its area reached 28 square meters. km, which for those times was simply incredible.
Historians are amazed and wonder: how did Chan-chan in Peru manage to survive to our times? After all, the material of construction is far from being longevous. The city is built from a mixture of clay, manure and straw.
Outwardly, Chan-Chan represented 10 rectangular sectors of irregular shape, surrounded by walls with a height of 15-18 m. They were designed in such a way as to maximally improve the comfort of residents - to protect them from the damaging sun and heat in the summer, and to keep warm in winter. Perfectly thought out were also at home - in all weather conditions, fresh air remained in the rooms thanks to a special way of ventilation in the roof, while in the winter they did not suffer from a large heat loss. Unique also is the irrigation system, which in the arid South American climate was a vital necessity. With great confidence, it can be called a genius engineering structure, even today, because the water was supplied to huge distances for those times.
Chan-chan in our time
Today, Chiang Chan in Peru is one of the central places of archaeological excavations. In 1986, the city was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and in 2010 a project was developed to preserve the ruins from erosion of soils, rains and other disastrous factors. What is characteristic, a considerable threat to the sights are the willful human settlements on the territory of the architectural complex.
Once a beautiful city, today Chiang Chan appears as a half-ruined labyrinth of clay walls. The planning of streets, houses, reservoirs with water is guessed. Among the buildings you can find cemeteries, markets, workshops and barracks. By the way, the walls are decorated with unique carvings. Particularly noticeable are two themes - fauna and graphically stylized animals. Carved figures are painted white or yellow. The fauna abounds in pelicans, crabs, turtles, various species of fish, birds and small mammals.
Quite an interesting construction in the northern part of the architectural complex of Chan-Chan in Peru is the pyramid. Two temples attract attention - the Emerald Temple and the Rainbow Temple. Unfortunately, these structures in due time have very quickly succumbed to destructive influence of rains, but still are capable to amaze. The walls are decorated with very beautiful graphic images of animals and ornaments with marine themes.
How to get to the ancient city of Chiang Chan in Peru?
In fact, the architectural complex is located on a fairly extensive territory, which includes a zone of archaeological excavations, two churches and a museum. All of them are at a fairly decent distance from each other. Therefore, for the convenience of tourists, whole tours are created from Trujillo and Huancako, which allow you to visit all the interesting places. By the way, and the entrance ticket is valid for 2 days.
In Trujillo from the capital can be reached by plane - here fly several flights daily. It is not excluded and the option of traveling from Lima by bus, although it will be less comfortable and will take about 8 hours. Uanchako is also located 10 km from Trujillo. Actually, this is where the airport is located. From here, regular transport goes both to the city center and to Trujillo. In addition, you can drive a taxi.
To the whole world, Peru is known as the heart of the Inca Empire. But only recently people have learned and started to be interested in those, it was before them. The Chima Nation left a rich heritage that passed through centuries of devastating rain and dry winds. It is enough to visit the ancient city of Chan-Chan in Peru and add a touch of imagination and imagination to fully immerse yourself in the unforgettable atmosphere of ancient civilization.
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