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Chan Chan is an ancient city in Peru, once the capital of the Chimor kingdom. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but is endangered due to damage caused by heavy rain. The city was built with adobe and plaster, covering 11 square miles and containing 10 citadels and 10,000 mansions. The walls are covered in engravings of ocean scenes. Visitors can access the site from Trujillo and should plan to spend a day exploring. Admission includes entrance to a museum and nearby ruins.
Chan Chan is a huge ancient city in Peru. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has been since 1986. Chan Chan is considered endangered by UNESCO, as torrential rains have caused substantial damage to the sandstone structures. Chan Chan was the capital of the mighty Chimor kingdom until the 15th century.
The Kingdom of Chimor was a powerful kingdom of the Chimu people, who ruled the entire northern coast of Peru from the 9th century to the late 15th century. It was by far the largest kingdom at the time, and at its peak comprised about two-thirds of the Andean people. Chimor was a powerful kingdom when the Inca began to ascend to the region, but even they were ultimately no match for the mighty Inca.
Chan Chan was a mud city, built with adobe and covered with a smooth plaster that could then be carved. It covered more than 11 square miles (18 square km), making it the largest city in South America before Western contact. At its peak, more than 30,000 inhabited Chan Chan, and it served as the imperial seat for the Chimor until their defeat by the Inca.
Chan Chan is surrounded by walls about 60 meters high and is roughly rectangular in shape. It contains ten huge citadels, also walled up, which have some living spaces inside them, but are mainly used as rooms for religious rites, burial chambers, food and water deposits. Chan Chan is something of a labyrinth, with so many huge walls, and the Incas would later borrow many of the layout concepts for their own cities. Chan Chan also contains some ten thousand distinct mansions, making it a huge residential hub.
Chan Chan walls are carved all over. These engravings take two main forms. One is quite realistic, depicting different animals, while the other shows the same subjects, but in a much more abstract style. Chan Chan’s etchings mainly focus on ocean scenes, with fishing nets, various fish, and seabirds all playing an important role.
Chan Chan is worth a visit for any traveler to the region. This city is absolutely massive and its scale is really conveyed by being there. At one point in history it was indeed among the greatest cities in the world, and the labyrinthine wall structures and seemingly endless mansions help reinforce that feeling.
You get to Chan Chan by crossing the city of Trujillo. Taxis can be hired to take you to the site entrance, and buses also make the journey regularly. The site is accessible on foot and it can easily take a day to get a good feel for the entirety of the place. The admission ticket also includes entrance to a small museum that can help give an idea of the site, as well as two other nearby fascinating ruins, the Huaca Arco Iris and the Huaca Esmerelda.
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