"Ruinas de Chanchan" Ruinas de Chanchan by El_Sueco

Ruinas de Chanchan Travel Guide: 5 reviews and 24 photos

Greatest adobe city in the world.

The archeological site covers 20 km2. Chan Chán was the capital of the Chimú Kingdom some 1000 years ago.
The town is divided into several rectangular sections 200-400 m long surrounded with walls up to 12 m high. The sections have got their names after archeologs that have been excavating; Tschudi, Uhle, Tello.
According to Michael Mosley each section has been used as a grave of its king and closed after his death and the people have build another section for the new king.

The Chimús were good artists, but adobe is fragile

The Cimús were beaten by the Incas in 1460 which ment the end of the Chimú culture. When the Spanish came in 1533 the place was abandoned.
During the years the adobe walls have been to a great part destroyed by rains, earthquakes and reconstructors(!)
Findings of great value have been excavated on the site, for example in 1864 found a certain Colonel La Rosa a cubic meter of silver vessels, which he promptly melted down(!)
Protection work now is trying to conserve the constructions and protect them from rain by covering them on top, and to make careful restoration work.

Motives with waves and fishes

Last visit to Ruinas de Chanchan: Apr 1997
Intro Written Nov 10, 2002
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Visit Ruinas de Chanchan - the greatest adobe city - Ruinas de Chanchan

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The central part covers 6 km2 and consists of great complex with places for storages, pyramids and areas used for... more travel advice

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Comments (2)

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utttz Apr 6, 2004 at 5:01 AM

I hope I'm going there :-)
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Luiz Nov 10, 2002 at 1:49 PM

Great place, deserve a visit!