Chan Chan
* This name is listed on the World Heritage List. ª The region is classified by UNESCO.
Chan Chan was the capital of the pre-Columbian Chimu Empire and was located west of the Peruvian Pacific coast of the present-day town of Trujillo.
It was built about 1300 and extends today over an area of 28 km ². She was probably the biggest city of its time on the South American continent and one of the largest in the world, built of clay. In its heyday, the city was home to about 60,000 people, had amassed a considerable fortune in gold, silver and ceramic art objects.
Chan Chan could not be defeated by the Incas with military force. Therefore, the attacker initiated by the current flowing through the oasis flow, so that the capture of the city was made possible by the soon incoming water scarcity.
After the conquest by the Incas, the city lost its importance. The city was not destroyed by them, because they put more emphasis on expansion than on wealth. That changed abruptly when the Spaniards conquered the Inca Empire. Of the total Chimú culture was not much left. Today only huge areas of earth buildings in a more or less poor condition and some banquet halls are available.
For massive destruction also occurring in recent years, El Niño contributes. For decades, fell in this area, no rain, but by climate change, the storm is getting fierce and altered the desert-like coastal areas.
The capital of the Chimo originally consisted of nine autonomous districts, each of which was ruled by another successful ruler. They were revered like kings. Each district contained tombs with extensive additions to jewelry, ceramic articles and dozens of skeletons of young women.
The best preserved is the Tschudi area, named after the Swiss explorer Johann Jakob von Tschudi. This area is being restored and is open for tourists. Here are some of the ballrooms to see with their magnificent ornaments. Until 1998, the earthen buildings were provided with a special glaze to protect them from destruction by the rainfall. But in the year El Nino was so strong that steel scaffolding had to be built so as not to wash away the small buildings.
UNESCO declared 1986 Chan Chan World Heritage Site. At the same time the ruins were added to the Red List of World Heritage in Danger due to the increasingly difficult by the climate change damage. Currently, the rising groundwater and illegal settlements on the site of the Fund prepare a place for still having problems.
La Huaca Arco Iris / dragon temple
Wall-decoration