The Imposing Adobe City of Chan Chan Near Trujillo Peru

Just 3 miles west of modern Trujillo, one finds the sprawling, crumbling, and extraordinary ruins of Chan Chan, the former capital of the Chimú Kingdom. The site has been under excavation since the mid 60’s. During its time, Chan Chan was the largest city in the Americas, and it was and remains the largest adobe city on earth. It covered 600 miles along the northern Peruvian coast and housed around 60,000 inhabitants. Even the ruins show how massive the site was: an estimated 10,000 structures remain.

If you’re interested in visiting Chan Chan, you can get from Lima to Trujillo in about 9 hours by bus. Next year, visitors to Chan Chan will enter through the newly improved Site Museum, which will be enlarged and modernized this year with the help of 14 million soles. They’ll then continue along a path showcasing a small forest conserving some of the native flora and fauna which was present during the time of the Chimú.

They’ll also pass Toledo pyramid shrine, which retains its monumental size despite having suffered ruinous sacking, and the lagoon of the same name. The path will lead to Nik An Palace, also known as the Tschudi Complex. Although it’s located just a 20 minute walk from the Site Museum, the new route will take an hour.

During the time of the Chimú, each ruler built his own palace citadel and administrative center, each spanning an area the size the size of 26 football fields. There the king, his attendants, and those from his administration were buried upon the king’s death. Ten generations left behind ten palace citadels, most of which are extremely dilapidated, but a visit to the carefully restored Tschudi Complex will take you back in time.

It consists of three courtyards, the royal cemetery, pyramid temples, gardens, warehouses, narrow streets snaking around labyrinthine living quarters, and a huge reservoir. There are neither arches nor doors, there are ramps but no stairs. High walls surrounding the citadel provided protection from the strong coastal winds and ventilation during the hot days and cold nights. Long interior walls are intricately decorated with friezes of ocean motifs (fish, waves, otters, pelicans) and mythological and geometric figures. Small divider walls were designed with diamond cutouts in them to provide ventilation and resemble fishing nets.

A sophisticated network of hinged irrigation canals, wells, and aqueducts kept Chimú’s fields and gardens flourishing despite the parched landscape, and still work today. These structures have caused archeologists and engineers to believe that the Chimú were the first true engineering society in the New World.

Upon entering the first ceremonial courtyard, you’ll see a raised platform where the king once sat on his throne to witness sacrifices, some of which were human. The platform is embossed with humanoid figures with beaklike faces holding scepters, spears, and curved blades. There is a small throne set up with props and a man dressed as a Chimú warrior; for some kitschy tourist fun, you can dress up and pose with the warrior.

In contrast to the sun-worshipping Inca, the Chimu of the coastal desert worshipped the moon. They knew it had some relation to Ni, the sea, which provided sustenance. The whale and otter were sacred animals, as well as the sea lion, which they believed accompanied the dead as they passed on to the afterlife.

Chan Chan fell to the Incas after a decade of resistance, and lost its gold and silver riches to the Spanish Conquistadors and the following generations of grave robbing treasure hunters. Despite having been fabulously wealthy, Chan Chan perennially lacked water. Today, it is water that brings about the imminent demise of this adobe city, as the flooding and rains of El Niño gradually wash away the ancient city despite efforts to save them, leaving the tall and thick defensive walls which surrounded the entire site looking like snow melting under the sun.

The S/11 entry fee includes two pyramid temples: the Huaca Esmeralda in the Mansiche district (midway between Chan Chan and Trujillo) and the  Huaca Arco Iris (the Rainbow Temple) in La Esperanza suburb a few miles from Trujillo. Unfortunately, they are quite far from the Tschudi Complex, requiring a lot of walking or a series of short taxi rides. If you wish to visit all of the sites, it will take most of a day. You need to visit the Site museum and Tschudi Complex first.

For more information, contact the experienced travel specialists of Pirwa Travel Service, who can inform and assist you in all aspects or your trip, from transport and entrances to guided tours and complete travel packages.