On Peru’s north coast, Chan Chan was the Chimú Empire’s vast adobe capital, its walled ciudadelas decorated with wave and animal friezes. Irrigation, craft specialization, and coastal trade sustained tens of thousands before Inca conquest. Today, shelters, drainage, and earthen‑architecture conservation stabilize fragile walls against El Niño rains and wind‑blown erosion.
Sprawling over 20 km² near Trujillo, Chan Chan consisted of walled compounds (ciudadelas) with plazas, storerooms, funerary platforms, and elite quarters. Unfired adobe bricks, earthen plasters, and cane‑wood roofs formed a coherent urban language adapted to arid desert conditions.
Chimú rulers centralized labor and craft—metalwork in gold and silver, fine textiles, and shell inlay—while canal irrigation drew water from the Moche River. Ports linked the capital to a coastal trade network; iconography celebrates the sea as a source of abundance.
Around 1470, the Inca subsumed Chimú domains; administrative changes and later Spanish colonial extraction transformed the site’s fate. Sand encroachment and treasure hunting damaged buildings until 20th‑century research reframed the city’s significance.
Earthen monuments require bespoke care: sacrificial mud plasters, protective shelters, drainage, and crack stitching reduce rain and wind attack. UNESCO‑supported projects integrate community engagement, site museums, and training in traditional techniques.
The Nik An (Tschudi) compound is the most interpreted sector, its restored friezes depicting fish, pelicans, and nets. Combine with Huacas del Sol y de la Luna and the coastal beaches for a fuller regional picture.
