Endangered Site: Chan Chan, Peru

About 600 years ago, this city on the Pacific coast was the largest city in the Americas

  • By Bruce Hathaway
  • Smithsonian magazine, March 2009, Subscribe
View More Photos »
Chan Chan Peru
Once the capital of an empire, Chan Chan was the largest adobe city on earth. (Courtesy of Flickr user Michel Gutierrez)

Photo Gallery (1/5)

Chan Chan Peru

Explore more photos from the story

Related Books

Peru

by Sara Benson, Paul Hellander, Rafael Wlodarski
Lonely Planet Books (Oakland, California), 2007

More from Smithsonian.com


During its heyday, about 600 years ago, Chan Chan, in northern Peru, was the largest city in the Americas and the largest adobe city on earth. Ten thousand structures, some with walls 30 feet high, were woven amid a maze of passageways and streets. Palaces and temples were decorated with elaborate friezes, some of which were hundreds of feet long. Chan Chan was fabulously wealthy, although it perennially lacked one precious resource: water. Today, however, Chan Chan is threatened by too much water, as torrential rains gradually wash away the nine-square-mile ancient city.

Located near the Pacific coast city of Trujillo, Chan Chan was the capital of the Chimú civilization, which lasted from A.D. 850 to around 1470. The adobe metropolis was the seat of power for an empire that stretched 600 miles from just south of Ecuador down to central Peru. By the 15th century, as many as 60,000 people lived in Chan Chan—mostly workers who served an all-powerful monarch, and privileged classes of highly skilled craftsmen and priests. The Chimú followed a strict hierarchy based on a belief that all men were not created equal. According to Chimú myth, the sun populated the world by creating three eggs: gold for the ruling elite, silver for their wives and copper for everybody else.

The city was established in one of the world's bleakest coastal deserts, where the average annual rainfall was less than a tenth of an inch. Still, Chan Chan's fields and gardens flourished, thanks to a sophisticated network of irrigation canals and wells. When a drought, coupled with movements in the earth's crust, apparently caused the underground water table to drop sometime around the year 1000, Chimú rulers devised a bold plan to divert water through a canal from the Chicama River 50 miles to the north.

The Chimú civilization was the "first true engineering society in the New World," says hydraulic engineer Charles Ortloff, who is based in the anthropology department of the University of Chicago. He points out that Chimú engineering methods were unknown in Europe and North America until the late 19th century. Although the Chimú had no written language for recording measurements or drafting detailed blueprints, they were somehow able to carefully survey and build their massive canal through difficult foothill terrain between two valleys. Ortloff believes the canal builders must have been thwarted by the shifting earth. Around 1300, they apparently gave up on the project altogether.

While erratic water supplies created myriad challenges for agriculture, the Chimú could always count on the bounty of the sea. The Humboldt Current off Peru pushes nutrient-rich water up to the ocean's surface and gives rise to one of the world's richest marine biomasses, says Joanne Pillsbury, director of pre-Columbian studies at Washington, D.C.'s Dumbarton Oaks, a research institute of Harvard University. "The Chimú saw food as the tangible love their gods gave them," Ortloff says. Indeed, the most common images on Chan Chan's friezes are a cornucopia of fish, crustaceans and mollusks, with flocks of seabirds soaring overhead.

Chan Chan's days of glory came to an end around 1470, when the Inca conquered the city, broke up the Chimú Empire and brought many of Chan Chan's craftsmen to their own capital, Cuzco, 600 miles to the southeast. By the time Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrived around 1532, the city had been largely abandoned, though reports from the expedition described walls and other architectural features adorned with precious metals. (One of the conqueror's kinsmen, Pedro Pizarro, found a doorway covered in silver that might well have been worth more than $2 million today.) Chan Chan was pillaged as the Spaniards formed mining companies to extract every trace of gold and silver from the city.

Chan Chan was left to the mercy of the weather. "The Chimú were a highly organized civilization" and any water damage to the adobe-brick structures of Chan Chan "could be repaired immediately," says Claudia Riess, a German native who now works as a guide to archaeological sites in northern Peru. Most of the damage to Chan Chan during the Chimú reign was caused by El Niño storms, which occurred every 25 to 50 years.

Now they occur more frequently. Riess believes that climate change is a primary cause of the increasing rainfall—and she's not alone. A 2007 report published by Unesco describes the erosion of Chan Chan as "rapid and seemingly unstoppable" and concludes "global warming is likely to lead to greater extremes of drying and heavy rainfall." Peru's National Institute of Culture is supporting efforts to preserve the site. Tentlike protective structures are being erected in various parts of the city. Some friezes are being hardened with a solution of distilled water and cactus juice, while others have been photographed, then covered to protect them. Panels with pictures of the friezes allow visitors to see what the covered artwork looks like.

Riess believes the best solution for Chan Chan would be a roof that stretches over the entire area and a fence to surround the city. But she acknowledges that both are impractical, given the ancient capital's sheer size. Meanwhile, the rains continue, and Chan Chan slowly dissolves from brick into mud.


During its heyday, about 600 years ago, Chan Chan, in northern Peru, was the largest city in the Americas and the largest adobe city on earth. Ten thousand structures, some with walls 30 feet high, were woven amid a maze of passageways and streets. Palaces and temples were decorated with elaborate friezes, some of which were hundreds of feet long. Chan Chan was fabulously wealthy, although it perennially lacked one precious resource: water. Today, however, Chan Chan is threatened by too much water, as torrential rains gradually wash away the nine-square-mile ancient city.

Located near the Pacific coast city of Trujillo, Chan Chan was the capital of the Chimú civilization, which lasted from A.D. 850 to around 1470. The adobe metropolis was the seat of power for an empire that stretched 600 miles from just south of Ecuador down to central Peru. By the 15th century, as many as 60,000 people lived in Chan Chan—mostly workers who served an all-powerful monarch, and privileged classes of highly skilled craftsmen and priests. The Chimú followed a strict hierarchy based on a belief that all men were not created equal. According to Chimú myth, the sun populated the world by creating three eggs: gold for the ruling elite, silver for their wives and copper for everybody else.

The city was established in one of the world's bleakest coastal deserts, where the average annual rainfall was less than a tenth of an inch. Still, Chan Chan's fields and gardens flourished, thanks to a sophisticated network of irrigation canals and wells. When a drought, coupled with movements in the earth's crust, apparently caused the underground water table to drop sometime around the year 1000, Chimú rulers devised a bold plan to divert water through a canal from the Chicama River 50 miles to the north.

The Chimú civilization was the "first true engineering society in the New World," says hydraulic engineer Charles Ortloff, who is based in the anthropology department of the University of Chicago. He points out that Chimú engineering methods were unknown in Europe and North America until the late 19th century. Although the Chimú had no written language for recording measurements or drafting detailed blueprints, they were somehow able to carefully survey and build their massive canal through difficult foothill terrain between two valleys. Ortloff believes the canal builders must have been thwarted by the shifting earth. Around 1300, they apparently gave up on the project altogether.

While erratic water supplies created myriad challenges for agriculture, the Chimú could always count on the bounty of the sea. The Humboldt Current off Peru pushes nutrient-rich water up to the ocean's surface and gives rise to one of the world's richest marine biomasses, says Joanne Pillsbury, director of pre-Columbian studies at Washington, D.C.'s Dumbarton Oaks, a research institute of Harvard University. "The Chimú saw food as the tangible love their gods gave them," Ortloff says. Indeed, the most common images on Chan Chan's friezes are a cornucopia of fish, crustaceans and mollusks, with flocks of seabirds soaring overhead.

Chan Chan's days of glory came to an end around 1470, when the Inca conquered the city, broke up the Chimú Empire and brought many of Chan Chan's craftsmen to their own capital, Cuzco, 600 miles to the southeast. By the time Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrived around 1532, the city had been largely abandoned, though reports from the expedition described walls and other architectural features adorned with precious metals. (One of the conqueror's kinsmen, Pedro Pizarro, found a doorway covered in silver that might well have been worth more than $2 million today.) Chan Chan was pillaged as the Spaniards formed mining companies to extract every trace of gold and silver from the city.

Chan Chan was left to the mercy of the weather. "The Chimú were a highly organized civilization" and any water damage to the adobe-brick structures of Chan Chan "could be repaired immediately," says Claudia Riess, a German native who now works as a guide to archaeological sites in northern Peru. Most of the damage to Chan Chan during the Chimú reign was caused by El Niño storms, which occurred every 25 to 50 years.

Now they occur more frequently. Riess believes that climate change is a primary cause of the increasing rainfall—and she's not alone. A 2007 report published by Unesco describes the erosion of Chan Chan as "rapid and seemingly unstoppable" and concludes "global warming is likely to lead to greater extremes of drying and heavy rainfall." Peru's National Institute of Culture is supporting efforts to preserve the site. Tentlike protective structures are being erected in various parts of the city. Some friezes are being hardened with a solution of distilled water and cactus juice, while others have been photographed, then covered to protect them. Panels with pictures of the friezes allow visitors to see what the covered artwork looks like.

Riess believes the best solution for Chan Chan would be a roof that stretches over the entire area and a fence to surround the city. But she acknowledges that both are impractical, given the ancient capital's sheer size. Meanwhile, the rains continue, and Chan Chan slowly dissolves from brick into mud.

    Subscribe now for more of Smithsonian's coverage on history, science and nature.



Additional Sources

Reading Art without Writing: Interpreting Chimú Architectural Sculpture, by Joanne Pillsbury, Dialogues in Art History, edited by Elizabeth Cropper, National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), 2009

Water Engineering in the Ancient World: Archaeological and Climate Perspectives on Societies of South America, the Middle East and South East Asia, by Charles R. Ortloff, Oxford University Press, August 2009


 

Add New Comment


Name: (required)

Email: (required)

Comment:

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until Smithsonian.com has approved them. Smithsonian reserves the right not to post any comments that are unlawful, threatening, offensive, defamatory, invasive of a person's privacy, inappropriate, confidential or proprietary, political messages, product endorsements, or other content that might otherwise violate any laws or policies.

Comments (9)

I read a family member's subscribtion and am trying to follow up on something I read some time ago about a baroque style church near the village of Sausa in central Andes I think it was NOT the cathedral in your list I got searching Peru/church. I vaguely remember 1421 ?

Posted by jean hael on May 2,2012 | 12:44 PM

Why is Chan Chan Peru considered a heritage site ?

Posted by Courtney on February 23,2012 | 10:55 AM

This ancient heritage is in danger not because of the human force but because of the natural disasters like the floods and earthquakes. It is being largely threatened by changes in climatic conditions. Due to heavy rains and strong winds, serious damage has been wrought on the historic structures. The protection of this place has been the major concern nowadays. http://www.southamericavoyage.net/chan-chan-peru.html

Posted by Sandra on October 20,2010 | 04:28 AM

I spent a month in Peru this September-October and Chan Chan was one of the very memorable visits. We actually visited several of the different temples. I was the only gabacho. All the rest of our little tour group were peruanos. I live in Orange County, CA and it is like the north coast of Peru when the Chimu were in full swing, verdant and productive using imported water. Where I live will be like the north coast of Peru is now in the future...dry, dry dirt!

Posted by Lon Hall on December 31,2009 | 11:04 PM

Dear Sir.
Peru has many locations throughout its territory of great historical significance, ancient Peruvians buildings that are a challenge to the imagination as the Nazca Lines, the city of Macchu Picchu, the city of Caral, natural wonders such as the Callejón de Huaylas, the Colca Canyon, Manu jungle, etc.. Never regret having visited Peru. People are very hospitable. The remaining investments are in tourism to make the stay more comfortable, but the darling of Peruvians offset the discomfort of the journey.
http://alonsosarmiento.googlepages.com

Posted by Alonso Sarmiento on July 26,2009 | 03:28 AM

What an incredible and amazing city. Chan Chan comprises most of the achievemnets of Chimu and Inca cultures in the central Andes. Although it is not known as much as Machu Picchu, local scientis and the local community are doing their best and their economy is slowly improving. The Smithsonian Magazine is accomplishing this by difussing this knowledge of Precolumbian lifeways in the Americas.

Posted by Abelardo Sandoval Millones on March 8,2009 | 11:56 AM

We visited Chan Chan about 18 months ago. It is an awesome place. Even one of the palaces would be enough to amaze but one is all we could get in and there were - I think - a dozen others in various states of disrepair. While Machu Pichu attacts hordes of visitors, Chan Chan and other temples and palaces north of Lima don't get much tourist attention. I don't think that there were more than 10 people there when we visited. At other attractions in the area we were occasionally the only visitors. There are things like the new museum for the contents of the tomb of the Lord of Sipan which are amazing and the equal of Egyptian finds. Most of us know so little about these early American civilizations. It is a shame that the sites will rot away with so little attention from Americans of all countries.

Posted by Don Rosebrook on March 6,2009 | 12:12 PM

Thank you for this incredible information. These sites may be destinations for my future travels. I have traveled the world and seen much. I expect this information to add a new dimension to my perspective. Thank you

Posted by libby Harris on March 6,2009 | 09:16 AM

I was promted to this site, as apart of my University of Pheonix coursework in a communications class. I do enjoy this topic, and found that this not a subject I have read about before or well education on. The picture is a nice acccent to explore this region. I will continue to keep reading more on this website in the fture. Thank You, Jenia SIlver

Posted by Jenia SIlver on February 24,2009 | 06:42 PM




Advertisement

Follow Us





First Name
Last Name
Address 1
Address 2
City
State   Zip
Email


Travel with Smithsonian




Smithsonian Store