North Coast - Peru - page 682

Tschudi Complex
Also called the Palacio Nik-An, the complex's centerpiece is a massive, restored Ceremo-
nial Courtyard , whose 4m-thick interior walls are mostly decorated with recreated geo-
metric designs. The ground-level designs closest to the door, representing three or four sea
otters, are the only originals left and are slightly rougher looking than the modern work. A
ramp at the far side of the high-walled plaza enters the 2nd level (early wheelchair ac-
cess?). Though all the Chan Chan walls have crumbled with time, parts of Tschudi's walls
once stood more than 10m high.
Head out of the Ceremonial Courtyard and walk along the outside wall , one of the
most highly decorated and best restored of Tschudi's walls. The adobe friezes show waves
of fish rippling along the entire length of the wall above a line of seabirds. Despite their
time-worn appearance, the few rougher -looking originals retain a fluidity and character
somehow lacking in the contemporary version.
At the end of this wall, the marked path goes through the labyrinthine Audience
Rooms . Their function is unclear, but their importance is evident in both the quantity and
quality of the decorations - the rooms have the most interesting friezes in Tschudi. Living
so close to the ocean, the Chimú based much of their diet on seafood, and the importance
of the sea reached venerable proportions. Fish, waves, seabirds and sea mammals are rep-
resented throughout the city, and in the Audience Rooms you'll find all of them in the one