CHAN CHAN: THE MUD CITY
Posted on | October 16, 2009 | Comments Off
Chan Cha, the Capital of the Chimu Empire, is the largest mud city in
the valley of Moche near Trujillo. It was built between the XII and XIV
centuries. It is believed that the city housed around 100 thousand
people and that it was built with 240 million adobe bricks. Chan
Chan is a labyrinth city that consisted of nine Royal Compounds that
have streets, channels, reservoirs, squares and pyramidal temples.
The Compounds have been named after the archeologist and
explores who discovered them or studied them. One of the most
famous and best preserved compounds is Tschudi; Named after
Juan Diego Tschudi, a Swiss naturalist (1818 – 1889), this
compound has only one entrance and twelve meters-high walls
which are wider at the bottom than at the top. The walls have high
relief figures resembling fish. In fact, most of the city walls are
decorated with mythical scenes, geometrical and zoomorphic
shapes and highly realistic figures. In 1985 UNESCO declared Chan
Chan Mankind’s Historical Monument. Come visit the Mud City and
its site museum, and be part of those who have enjoyed this long
lasting magnificent city.