Trujillo - Huanchaco - photos 2

Trujillo - Huanchaco

Continuation of the visit of the ruins of the Moche and Chimu civilizations.

- The City of Chan-Chan was the largest Pre-columbian city in South America. Chan-Chan was build by the Chimor (the kingdom of the Chimu) at around AD850 and as the imperial capital of the Chimu. It is severely threatened by El Nino phenomenon (due to its closeness to the sea) earthquakes and looters. So to preserve the ruins, covers can be seen all around the site like in the picture. On the wall, typical architectural design,

- The Temple site. It is where the Emperor was buried,

- Typical wall in the Huaca de la Luna from the Moche civilisation. The Moche were in Peru from AD100 to AD800 and their religion was based on human sacrifices. The face drawn in the picture is called the "decapitator" frequently depicted as a spider but sometimes as a winged creature or sea monster,
- Huaca (temple) de la Luna on the first plan with lots of ruins to be still excavated. On the background the Huaca del Sol , a pyramidal adobe structure, had been the largest pre-Colombian structure in Peru but was partly destroyed by the Spanish conquistadores,
- Other detail of the paints found in Huaca de la Luna. Very well conserved.