Our country owns an inspiring past. Pre-Inca and Inca cultures have left us a valuable legacy. Those who visit us will have the chance to appreciate almost ten thousand years of history spread along the country in museums and archeological sites. Machu Picchu, chosen as one of the seven wonders of the modern world is the image that represents the wealth of our archeological patrimony. A legacy surrounded by magic, legends, art and customs that last up to our times.
The Incas (1400 - 1500) are one of the most important cultures of the world, only comparable to Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China. Its incredible religious, political, social and military organization gathers its power in Cusco, even though they developed in the Andes and even dominated almost all South America. They were famous because of the perfection of their stone architecture (Sacsahuaman, Koricancha, Ollantaytambo, Pisac), as well as by their silver and goldsmith, and textiles. 4400 years before the Incas ruled, the Sacred City of Caral was built on the north of Lima. This is most ancient civilization in America and the only one that achieved unprecedented achievements in the most complete isolation. The city covers an area over 10 hectares; there you can appreciate a highly planned complex of architectural design that includes pyramidal buildings, a circular main square, buildings and an amphitheater, among others. Chavin (800 - 200 B.C.): They established in the north mountains, achieving great advances in architecture, engineering and agriculture. Nowadays, you can still appreciate the cabezas clavas (tenoned heads), monolithic sculptures with anthropomorphic features and the Lanzon de Chavin, a high piece of stone carved with complicated symbols. Moche (200 B.C. - 600 AC.): They outstood in the north coast because the construction of their pyramidal temples and their scenic ceramics. In this same territory, Chimu (1100 - 1500) left its most impressive legacy: Chan Chan Citadel, an architectural complex with beautiful geometrical friezes. Nazca (300 B.C. - 900 AC.): In the south of Lima, in Ica, they have left a mysterious group of geological designs engraved in the desert pampas, best known as the Nazca Lines, they also had pretty ceramics. Paracas (800 B.C. - 600 AC.), they also established in Ica, they were skillful knitters, their shawls are a testimony of their magical-religious vision of the world; they used vegetable dyes that show vivid colors until nowadays. Peru has in its territory the main cultural sites of this continent. |
