Destinations : ● Cusco ● Machu Picchu ● Arequipa ●Puno ●Nazca ● Lake Titicaca ● Trujillo
Getting to Peru Cities:● Getting to Lima ● Getting to Cusco ●Getting to Puno ● Getting to Trujillo ●Getting to Arequipa ●Getting to Iquitos
Chan Chan : ● Chan Chan ● Chan Chan Hotels ● Chan Chan Restaurants
Chan Chan located near Pacific coast city of Trujillo. As I said, it was the capital of the ‘Chimu’ civilization. Chan Chan was administrative and political capital of ‘Chimu’ Kingdom. The adobe capital was the seat of supremacy for a territory that extended 600 miles from just south of Ecuador down to central Peru. As many as 60,000 people lived in Chan Chan in the 15th century. The ‘Chimu’ followed a stern hierarchy based on a certainty that all men were not created equal.
History of Chan Chan Name
The real name of the city is not recognized and it’s hard to say the name ‘Chan Chan’ referred to the whole city. The earliest chroniclers don't point out this name. In its rest they refer to the place like ‘The city of the Chimo’ name given to the valley or ‘Palaces of the Gran Chimu’. In the magazine El Mercurio Peruano, in 1791 the name ‘Chan Chan’ appears in first time for the reference to this archaeological site. From the ancient documents find out that the name ‘Chan Chan’ belonged to some saltpeter mine situated on the way to Huanchaco, which is inside Chan Chan.
What to See in Chan Chan
You need to visit the citadels (Fortress). They have ten citadels in Chan Chan. You will see temples, ceremonial rooms and graveyards here. Also you will see the dwelling places in these citadels. Citadels are surrounded by tall walls. These walls make the sites very attractive; their heights are around 50 feet with many engraved designs on its body. These walls were constructed by adobe bricks, and you will be charmed with the artistic designs engraved on these walls. These designs include graphic representation of fish, birds, mammals, crabs, turtles and many more animals. Walls were constructed considering the weather pattern of the city. Since ocean was located on the south west side, tallest walls were made on that direction to shelter from the wind from that direction. These citadels have good amount of sun exposure, as the north side wall were constructed to absorb sunlight and block fog.