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Chan Chan Citadel is the largest mud-brick citadel dating back to the pre-Hispanic era and it spreads across an area of 20 square km. The origin of Chan Chan Citadel can be dated back to the ancient Chimú kingdom (700-1400 AD) who established their capital by the banks of the Moche River in the department of La Libertad and named it ‘Jang-Jang’ which in the ancient Mochica language means ‘sun-sun’. On your Trujillo Tours, Chan Chan Citadel is a must visit site.
Chimú architects used clay, mud, pebbles, wood, reeds, straw and cane in building Chan Chan Citadel, for these are the materials which enabled the citadel to blend in with the sandy coasts. The complex of the citadel consists of many cities within a city. Each of these cities has its own single entrance which leads down a corridor that opens up into other passageways lining walls and buildings. The buildings feature brilliant architecture with rectangular patterns, inner patios, residences, administrative buildings, temples, platforms and storehouses. The walls were decorated with friezes done in geometric and animal motifs. The most important construction in the complex is the-shaped platform that housed the king's burial chamber. The citadel was surrounded by quarters which were home to the kingdom's producers and servants and these were away from the center or the middle section.
The archaeological site is characterized by tall walls and some of these walls are 26 feet high. The walls enclose each of the 11 citadels. The largest stepped pyramid of Chan Chan, which lies at the north of the city, together with Huaca Obispo, form the bulk of the monumental architecture at the site. Most of these palaces are laid out in a very similar fashion, although, there are differences in size. The palaces display three types of structures -- U-shaped audiencias, storerooms and wells.
The different cities of the Chan Chan Citadel in Trujillo have been given the names of the archaeologists who studied them. Rivero, Tschudi, Bandelier, Uhle, Tello are some of the cities. Among them, the Rivero city was the seat of Minchancamán, the last of the Chimú rulers. According to the Spanish chroniclers, Minchancamán was captured by the Incas and taken to Cuzco. The city was the urban center of a large regional state which covered half of the Peruvian coast running from the Tumbes on the Ecuadorian border to the far south to Lima.
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