Chan Chan: Capital City of the Chimu

Another culture that thrived in the northern coastal desert of Peru is the Chimu. Their period of dominance was around from 850 CE to 1470 CE  (about six centuries).  They had expanded their rule from their base on the Moche River to the north (as far as present day Ecuador) and to the south approaching the area of present-day Lima.  After a long war with the Inca, their dominance ended, but only about 60 years before Pizarro and his conquistadors arrived.  The Chimu aided the Spaniards to rid themselves of the Inca.

The Chimu built on what the Moche had done before them.  But there were changes.  One big change was a centralized government with large walled complexes that are still visible today outside Trujillo.  These complexes are known as Chan Chan and we visited the complexes.

The map above illustrates the richness of the cultures (Moche and Chimu) centered around Trujillo. Note how close to the ocean Chan Chan is (seafood was important to them) and note the Moche river. A river bringing water from the Andes was a must for a city to live in the desert (and gave the name to the Moche culture). The Chimu built a temple farther up the slope of Cerro Blanco above the Moche temple of Huaca de la Luna.  This Chimu temple is in the process of being excavated.

The encircled area above illustrates some of the loss of Chan Chan that has occurred over the centuries. A road has been built through two of the complexes. The Rainbow Temple (Huaca del Arco Iris) we visited had been a part of Chan Chan and now is located in a residential area. Our guide told us that when she was a child, it was considered sport or a hobby to seek artifacts in Chan Chan.  This type of activity has been occurring since the Spaniards arrived. Chan Chan was designated in 1986 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and guards now patrol the area continuously.

There are ten governmental complexes (citadels) that make up Chan Chan. The names given to each citadel are from the archeologists who studied each complex.  The only citadel that can currently be visited is the Tschudi (in blue above). The massive size of these citadels is what is impressive about Chan Chan.  The above area is about 2.3 square miles. The citadels were built over centuries, and one theory is that when a new dynasty assumed leadership, then a new citadel was built. The Tschudi citadel is one of the younger citadels. 

Above is an edited image taken from www.tiwanakuarcheo.net that gives a high level overview of the Tschudi citadel. The elite lived in the citadel, and the high walls separated them from the common folk (the city had about 30,000 people and some people say even many more) and also protected them from the wind and sand and provided shade from the sun.  The walls are 12 meters high in places (40 feet) and composed of mud brick.

Above are pictures of the wall construction.  The style of brick used is one of the indicators as to when the citadels were built. The bricks here in the Tschudi complex are not flat rectangular bricks but are tall "bread loaf" style which indicates that Tschudi is one of the younger citadels.  The right image shows a wall that has been "refinished" or "reconstructed" - not original finish. Note the trapezoidal shape of the walls.

The entrance into the main square with two replica wooden guards.  The original wooden guards are being kept safely some place.  Some of the walkways to the various rooms had overhead coverings to provide shade.

Along one of the walkways we have the Fish and Bird decor. The birds were painted black and yellow (perhaps they were Pittsburgh fans?).

A labyrinth of walls that would have been much higher than what we see now.  The decor is thought to represent fish nets.

So close to the ocean and yet the Chimu dug fresh water reservoirs that are still fresh today. The common people outside the citadel would have to fetch their water from the Moche river or from irrigation canals.

The "congress room" or "audience room" where government topics would have been discussed. Each "department" head would have been in their alcove and would have voiced their opinion. Acoustics were quite good. The wooden guard above is a replica - the one below is said to be centuries old (not a replica).

Another change for the Chimu over the Moche was the addition of the moon god to their panoply of gods. The moon god has more appeal over a hot and destructive sun as the moon regulated the tides (important for a seagoing people), brought cool breezes, seemed to be tied to reproductive cycles of women and crops, etc. Note the moon images at the base - this room was probably a temple to the moon god and would have been painted white (a purified color).  The Inca had a sun god, but they came from the cool Andean highlands.

A full wall of the fish net design. The Chimu certainly were skilled fishermen and skilled irrigation farmers. In fact, a damaged irrigation system by a catastrophic flood around 1100 CE is thought to have been the reason they expanded their rule outside their usual range so they could take advantage of the resources of other river valleys.

This is the Rainbow Temple (also known as the Temple of the Dragon) that is surrounded by residential buildings but had been a part of Chan Chan.  The plaza at the top would have been where ceremonies would have taken place.

There is a symmetric structure to this image:  the "rainbow" at the top and perhaps sea serpents sharing or fighting over some morsel. It's not clear.

The artifacts from the Chimu culture are scattered world wide. Here is a picture taken by us at a museum in Lima illustrating their skill and richness of their metallurgy.

Here is picture of Chimu ceramics (taken off the internet).  Chimu ceramics were usually monochrome (black) and intricate in detail.

In summary the Chimu had an impressive culture that thrived for six centuries with a planned mud brick capital city that was the largest city in the Americas (pre-Columbian time frame).  Very Impressive.