Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
department of Amazonas, this pleasant colonial settlement is now a busy market town and
makes an excellent base for exploring the awesome ancient ruins left behind by the fierce
civilization of the Chachapoyas ('People of the Clouds').
Vast zones of little-explored cloud forest surround the city of Chachapoyas, concealing
some of Peru's most fascinating and least-known archaeological treasures. Although the
ravages of weather and time, as well as more recent attentions of grave robbers and treas-
ure seekers, have caused damage to many of the ruins, some have survived remarkably
well. Kuélap is by far the most famous of these archaeological sites, though dozens of oth-
er ruins lie besieged by jungle and make for tempestuous exploration.
History
The Chachapoyas culture was conquered - but never fully subdued - by the Incas a few
decades before the Spaniards arrived. When the Europeans showed up, local chief Curaca
Huamán supposedly aided them in their conquest to defeat the Inca. Because of the relat-
ive lack of Inca i nfluence , the people didn't learn to speak Quechua and today Spanish is
spoken almost exclusively. Local historians claim that San Juan de la Frontera de las
Chachapoyas was the third town founded by the Spaniards in Peru (after Piura and Lima)
and it was, at one time, the seventh-largest town in the country.
Sights
Instituto Nacional de Cultura Museo
(INC; Ayacucho 904; 8am-1pm & 3-5pm Mon-Fri)
Houses six mummies and ceramics
from several pre-Columbian periods.
MUSEUM
