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Chan Chan, La Libertad, Peru

Chan Chan, sometimes itself called Chimor, was the capital city of the Chimor kingdom. It was the largest city of the pre-Columbian era in South America. It is now an archeological site in the department of La Libertad five kilometers (3.1 mi) west of Trujillo, Peru.

Chan Chan is in a particularly arid section of the coastal desert of northern Peru. Due to the lack of rain in this area, the major source of nonsalted water for Chan Chan is in the form of rivers carrying surface runoff from the Andes. This runoff allows for control of land and water through irrigation systems.

The city of Chan Chan spanned 20 square kilometers (7.7 sq mi) and had a dense urban center of six square kilometers (2.3 sq mi) which contained extravagant ciudadelas. Ciudadelas were large architectural masterpieces which housed plazas, storerooms, and burial platforms for the royals. The splendor of these ciudadelas suggests their association with the royal class.

Plan of the walled compound Tschudi
Plan Legend:

  1. Entrance
  2. Main Square
  3. Bird and Fish Corridor
  4. Small altar hall
  5. Audiences
  6. Second square
  7. Ceremonial reservoir
  8. Funeral platform

Entrance (Plan No. 1)

Entrance to the walled compound Tschudi
The Chimu have 10 citadels, but the Tschudi is the only one that tourists are allowed into.


Walking towards the Main Square
The walled complex "Tschudi" is the greatest in illustration of the importance of water, particularly of the sea, and of the cult that surrounded it in the Chimu culture.

  • It is believed that Tschudi was built in honor of the Chimú God of the sea whose name in quingnam is unknown.

Main Square (Plan No. 2)

Panorama of the Main Square

Main Square
This space was considered sacred and was dedicated to ceremonial celebretions, one of which was an ancestor cult.

  • The Chimu Lord and priests would have been located on the ramped terrace.
  • The additional entrances to the plaza were for the other people who would have participated in the ceremony; the lower ranking priests, musicians, singers, litter bearers and visitors.
  • During these ceremonies the colorfulness of the attendants and the brilliantly polished metal objects would served to glorify the Chimu gods.

Scale model of the Main Square

Decoration on the wall of the Main Square

Bird and Fish Corridor (Plan No. 3)

Bird and Fish Corridor
The high reliefs of the walls represent fish, directed towards the north and the south (what can be interpreted as representation of the two currents that mark the Peruvian coast: that of Humboldt, cold, that comes from the south and the one of El Niño, hot, that comes from the north), waves, rombito (fishing nets), as well as pelicans and anzumitos (mixture of sea lion and otter).


Fish
Tschudi was a place of worship. The Chimú mainly worshipped the ocean and sea so figures and designs like these were present many places around the city.

  • The walls are adobe brick covered with a smooth surface into which intricate designs are carved.
  • The two styles of carving design include a realistic representation of subjects such as birds, fish, and small mammals, as well as a more graphic, stylized representation of the same subjects.

Small altar hall (Plan No. 4)

Panorama of the Small altar hall seen from the north

Panorama of the Small altar hall seen from the south

Audiences (Plan No. 5)

Panorama of the Audiences
Each Audience has a different decorative pattern.


Audience of the pelican
In this Audience the decorative pattern of the baseboard is the pelican.


Audience of the wave and stepped motif
In this Audience the decorative pattern of the baseboard is the wave and stepped motif.


Audience of the cross and stepped motif
In this Audience the decorative pattern of the baseboard is the cross and stepped motif.


Audience of the peacock
In this Audience the decorative pattern of the baseboard is the peacock.


Audience of the Andean Cross
In this Audience the decorative pattern of the baseboard is the Andean Cross.


Audience of the circle
In this Audience the decorative pattern of the baseboard is the circle.


Ceremonial reservoir (Plan No. 7)

Panorama of the Ceremonial reservoir
There was a pond in the middle of the building that was used for religious ceremonies, fertility, and even worshipping water.

  • Something that the Chimu civilians worship very much is the ocean, they are directly next to the Pacific Ocean and get most of their food through it.
  • They also relied very much on their irrigation system, so they believe that worshipping gods related to the ocean is important.

Funeral platform (Plan No. 8)

Panorama of the Funeral platform
Chan Chan has many different types of buildings many of which have been destroyed. Many of the buildings included temples, houses, reservoirs and even funeral platforms.


See also

Source

Location

Location: VWVG+Q5C, Huanchaco, Peru