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TOURISM
& TRAVEL
NORTHERN
COAST
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Too
much often forsaken by the tourists, the Northern coast has
to offer much on the cultural level. Civilizations Ugly and
Chimu left here imposing sites such as Chan Chan or the pyramids
of the sun of the moon. But also of picturesque villages of
fishermen and the "oases cities" located vis-a-vis
to the Pacific Ocean but girdled by the desert.
These oases, created centuries ago thanks to clever systems
of irrigation, constitute the attic of Peru. They provide
market gardenings, rice, canes with sugar and fruits, which
one finds, in small gravers on the edge of the famous Pan-American
Highway which skirts the coast from Lima to the Ecuadorian
border.
Trujillo,
which profits from a very pleasant climate even the winter,
was founded in 1534. This animated and accessible city, with
its old colonial houses, its wood balconies, its wrought iron
grids, is an oasis of freshness in this large coastal desert.
To
5 km of Trujillo is one of the archeological sites most famous
of South America: Chan-Chán. This old capital of the
Chimu kingdom, from which the site extends on 18 km²,
consists of nine palate-citadels. Each one contains places
of ceremonies, sanctuaries, dwellings, burials, attics, gardens...
Two
other interesting archeological sites are located not far
from Trujillo and still testify to the presence to civilizations
much older: Huaca LED Ground & Huaca of Luna.
One can thus see the ruins of Ugly, the old capital of Mochica.
There remain about it nothing any more but two temples, the
pyramids of the sun and the moon. The first is a colossal
monument in the adobe, largest of Peru, 228 height m on a
basis of 136 m.
A
culture even older, that of Chavin, left its mark with Caballo
Muerto. It acts of an immense ceremonial center composed of
8 hillocks.
On
the other side of the desert, to 280 km, Cajamarca profits
from a climate enchanter. It is said, the Most Spanish city
of Peru, but it remains very Indian with its houses of adobe,
its country market.
To
210 km of Trujillo, Chiclayo, important port but modern city
without much interest, are the starting point for the visit
of two great archeological sites. Sipán, a Mochica
burial of a very great scientific and historical interest
was discovered a few years ago. Not far from there, another
site Mochica, Túcume, under study, constitutes the
vastest archeological site of the world.
