Chan Chan
city is located near the Pacific coast in the Peruvian region of La Libertad,
approximately five kilometers west of Trujillo. It was the largest
Pre-Columbian city in South America and the largest earthen architecture city
in the world. Chan Chan was the capital of the Chimú civilization that
stretched along the northern coast for a thousand kilometers from just south of
Ecuador down to central Peru. The city itself was built about 850 CE and lasted
until its conquest by the Inca Empire in 1470. At the height of the Chimú
Empire, Chan Chan stretched more than 20 square km with a monumental zone of
about 6 square kilometers in the center, and housed a projected 60,000
populations. Therefore, the city had 9 large rectangular citadels surrounded by
thick earthen walls about 30 to 60 feet high. Moreover within these units, were
thousands of buildings including temples, houses, stores are arranged around
open spaces, together with reservoirs, and funeral platforms.
The walls
of the buildings were every so often decorated with raised carvings
representing abstract motifs and animals. Outside these nine rectangular units
were four industrial sectors fixed to woodwork, weaving, and the work of gold
and silver. Unluckily, the city was deprived of these valuable metals by
Spanish treasure hunters who ransacked the city during the 16th century.
Moreover, an area further to the south was used for farming; the land watered
by an intricate system of irrigation. Chan Chan was recognized in one of the
world's bleakest coastal deserts, where the average annual rainfall was less
than a tenth of an inch. It was due to dry desert air that allowed the city’s
earthen structure to remains to this day. Ironically, due to the changes in
weather conditions, nowadays Chan Chan is endangered by too much water, as heavy
rains steadily wash away this ancient city.
Source: Amusing Planet
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