Peruvian World Heritage Sites You Should Visit
UNESCO World Heritage Sites are places considered integral to the world’s cultural or natural heritage. Peru is blessed with 11 World Heritage Sites: 7 cultural sites, 2 natural sites, and 2 sites which have elements of both. Some of these are parks or archaeological sites that you might not have heard of before, but they are all worth a visit. For your next trip to Peru, consider some of the following:
City of Cusco
Cusco, the former imperial capital of the Incas, is the most-visited city in Peru. Not only does it provide easy access to the ruins of Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas, but it also boasts several fascinating and beautiful attractions within the city proper. The main square is dominated by baroque Spanish churches built atop the foundations of Incan temples and palaces. We recommend that you visit Qorikancha, the Incan Sun Temple, and the artistic neighborhood of San Blas in Cusco’s historical center. You can see the former by taking a half-day tour of Cusco, and the later is easy to explore when you stay at Pirwa San Blas, which is located just half a block from Plaza San Blas.
Chan Chan Archaeological Zone
The impressive, sprawling city comprises nine walled units with a larger wall surrounding all of them. It was once the center of the Chimu Kingdom, and was in fact the largest city in the Americas in its time. Anyone interested in visiting this site, located just three miles west of Trujillo, should do so as soon as possible- because it is built of adobe mud-brick and thus susceptible to heavy rain and erosion, Chan Chan is considered by UNESCO to be an endangered site. Read our post on Chan Chan if you’d like to learn how to get there, and what you’ll see at the site.
Manu National Park
Although Peru has several protected national parks that
protect its Amazon Rainforest, Manu Biosphere Reserve is the most famous among them because it holds the world record for biodiversity. It’s home to more than 1,000 bird species, which amounts to 10% of the world’s total bird species. This includes rare macaws as well as the national bird of Peru, the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. It also provides refuge to more than 15,000 flowering plants and 200 mammal species. There are several eco-lodges within the park offering activities such as day and night hikes, piranha fishing, canoe trips, and swimming with pink river dolphins. Some excursions even include visits to indigenous communities who make their home within the park, such as the Matsigenga. Along the way, you can spot rare giant otters, black caiman, tapirs and capybara. Although jaguars do live within the part of the reserve which is open to visitors, sightings are very rare.
Because there’s so much to see and do, our travel agency Pirwa Travel Service offers a variety of tours in Manu for every type of traveler.
Historic Center of Lima
From the time that Francisco Pizarro founded the city in 1535 until the middle of the 18th century, Lima was the most important city in the Spanish Americas. During that time, life in the capital city centered on the ornate buildings which sprung up in the center. Aside from the Cathedral, where the Peruvian saints are laid to rest, there is the Monastery of San Francisco, whose catacombs served as the city’s only cemetery for centuries. You can see these and the other buildings of the historic center of Lima at their most enchanting during a Lima Illuminated tour, which showcases the city’s monuments just as they are lit up against the falling evening.
Rio Abiseo National Park
Rio Abiseo National Park covers 70% of the Abiseo River Basin, which is located between the Maranon and Huallaga Rivers. It protects a diverse rainforest that is home to many endemic species. One of these, the yellow-tailed woolly monkey, which was previously thought to have gone extinct. This park is categorized as both a natural and a cultural site, because it’s also home to over 30 Pre-Columbian archeological sites.
Historical Center of Arequipa
Because we have a hostel in Arequipa’s historical center, as 
well as four Cusco hostels, we’re proudly located within two different UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The historical center of Arequipa unique among the cities of Peru, thanks to its beautiful buildings made of white volcanic sillar rock from the volcanoes which surround the city. Many of the buildings’ façades are decorated with intricate mestizo-baroque carvings showing a mix of pre-Columbian Andean and Spanish Catholic symbols and artistry.
The Nazca Lines
Since their discovery, the Nazca Lines have fascinated people all over the world. Even today, academics still debate over the central enigma of these massive geoglyphs that sprawl along the Sechura desert floor near the modern-day city of Nazca: What caused the Nazca culture to create so many anthropomorphic and geometric figures whose forms could only be seen from above? What significance did figures such as the monkey and hummingbird hold? The answer seems to lie not in one theory, but in a combination of several. Today, researchers believe that some lines align with celestial bodies to serve as an agricultural calender, while others point to underground water sources and many were used for ritualistic purposes.
To truly understand, it’s not enough to simply fly over the Nazca Lines. One should also explore the other relics that the Nazca Culture left behind, such as the pyramids of Cahuachi Pilgrimage Site (undoubtedly connected with the lines), Chauchilla Cementery, and the Cantayoc Aqueducts.
Today, you can see the Nazca Lines even if you don’t have time to visit the city of Nazca: flyovers can be arranged during flights from Lima to Cusco, Cusco to Lima, or even from Lima to Lima. Each flight stops at Paracas Airport so that passengers can switch to light aircraft and fly over the Nazca Lines before returning to their original airplane and continuing their trip, meaning that you can see the iconic Nazca Lines even if you only have a few hours to spare. We spoke more about the different ways to see the Nazca Lines in an earlier post.
Chavin de Huantar Archaeological Site
Before the discovery of Caral (another site on this list), the Chavin were believed to be the oldest civilization in Peru, and Chavin de Huantar its oldest archaeological site. Located north of modern-day Lima, at the confluence of the Mosna and Huanchecsa rivers, it comprises a flat-topped pyramid temple surrounded by lower platforms that include passages, plazas, terraces and a circular sunken court, all cut from stone. The Cabezas Clavas, monolythic head sculptures which protude along some of the structure’s inner walls, imbue the site with a mythical feel that never fails to enchant visitors. The findings which were unearthed at the site are equally evocative, especially the Stela Lanzon, a sculpture with a human body and feline head, and the legendary large stone engraving known as the Stela Raimondi.
Huascaran National Park
Huascaran National Park surrounds Mt Huascaran, the tallest peak in Peru. Its pristine high-altitude lakes, green ravines, and glaciers attract many visitors each year with their beauty. One of its trails, the Santa Cruz Route, is consistently lauded by National Geographic as one of the world’s best treks.
Sacred City of Caral-Supe
Just 5 hours outside of Lima lie the remains of the central city of what appears to have been the first civilization in the Americas. The site is the Sacred City of Caral-Supe, which was built by the Norte Chico beginning in the 20th century BC. Although the Norte Chico are not very well-known compared to other pre-Columbian cultures in Peru, such as the Moche, Wari, and Inca, they had a strong influence on later Andean cultures, as evidenced by a quipu recovered from the site.
Machu Picchu Sanctuary
Peru’s final World Heritage Site needs no introduction, 
as its inclusion in the Modern Wonders of the World list made it one of the world’s most famous sites. The walls, terraces, and buildings of Machu Picchu include some of the best Incan architecture which has survived to the modern day, while its location on a mountain spur 7,680 feet (2,340 meters) above sea level makes its construction an impressive feat and affords visitors amazing views of the surrounding Andean peaks and valleys. Machu Picchu consistently tops lists of recommended attractions around the world, as it’s one of the few famous destinations which can live up to its legend.
For most travelers, no trip to Peru is complete with a tour of Machu Picchu.
Eleven sites might seem excessive, but that list will be even longer soon, as there are several sites currently nominated, most notably the Inca Trail, Pachacamac Archaeological Site, Kuelap Fortress, and Lake Titicaca. These are on a tentative list, but haven’t been confirmed as World Heritage Sites yet.
If you’d like any more information about Peru’s many attractions and how to get there, feel free to contact the experienced travel specialists of Pirwa Travel at pirwatravel@gmail.com.