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CITIES
TRUJILLO
- Trujillo
- Chan Chan: The World's Largest Pre-Hispanic
Mud-Brick Citadel
- Gastronomy
Trujillo is a friendly, colonial city and at the same
time one of the main economic and cultural centers of
northem Peru. What is more, it is the capital of the
marinera dance and caballo de paso (a fine breed of
horses). It was the center of the Chimú culture
(1100-1400 AD), whose Chan Chan citadel is the largest
pre-Hispanic mud-brick construction in the Americas.
Trujillo was founded in 1534 as one of the main cities
in the vice-regency -The old quarter features many fine
colonial buildings such as the Cathedral, the El Carmen
monastery and churches and mansions which symbolize
the beauty and architectural harmony of the city.
Visitors can take in an older style
of architecture on the city`s outskirts, where the remains
of a pre Hispanic civilization still rear above the
green fields and desert sands. The Chan Chan citadel,
the El Brujo complex and the temples of the Sun, the
Moon and the Dragon, amongst others, are evidence of
highly advanced northern civilizations.
 Beaches
near Trujillo are ideal for visitors, not just because
of the superb local seafood, fresh caught, or the cool
sea breeze, but also for the opportunities for adventure
sports and contact with tradition. Huanchaco is a picturesque
fishing cove where one can find the ancient craft that
appeared on Mochica pottery and friezes at Chan Chan:
The caballitos de totora, rafts woven from the totora
reed in an art that has been handed down over generations.
Similar skill is shown by the surfing crowd, which year
after year gather in the port of Malabrigo. A surfing
championship is staged here every March and local beaches
feature the world`s longest waves.
Above all, Trujillo is the land of
the marinera, and the townspeople hold the National
Marinera Contest every March In September the streets
and houses are festooned with decorations to receive
a procession of floats, competitions and parties. This
is the International Spring Festival, which celebrates
the arrival of spring in Peru.
CHAN CHAN:
THE WORLD'S LARGEST PRE-HISPANIC MUD-BRICK CITADEL
The ancient Chimú kingdom (700-1400 AD) founded
their capital by the banks of the Moche River in the
department of La Libertad and called it Jang-Jang, which
in the ancient Mochica language means sun-sun.
Chan Chan, which spans an area of
20 square km, is the largest mud-brick citadel dating
back to the pre-Hispanic era. The Chimú architects
used materials which enable the citadel to blend in
with the sandy coasts such as mud, clay, pebbles,wood,reeds,straw
and cane to built it.
The complex is made of many cities
within a city. Each one has its own single entrance
and leads down a corridor that opens into other passageways
lining walls and buildings. Featuring some marvelous
rectangular architecture: such as inner patios, residences,
administrative buildings, temples, platforms and storehouses.
The walls are decorated with haut-relief friezes done
in geometric and animal figures. The T-shaped plaform
that houses the king´s burial chamber is the most
important construction in the complex. The citadel is
surrounded by outlying quarters which houses the kingdom's
producers and servants.
The separate cities today have been
given the names of the archaeologists who studied them
(Rivero, Tschudi, Bandelier, Uhle and Tello). The Rivero
city was the seat of Minchancamán, the last of
the Chimú rulers, who was captured by the Incas
and taken to Cuzco, according to the Spanish chroniclers.
The city was the urban center of
a vast regional state which covered half of the Peruvian
coast, and stretched on from Tumbes to Lima.
GASTRONOMY
Seco de cabrito con frijoles.
Tender kid goat stew and beans.
Shambar. Thick wheat
soup with pork and beans.
Sopa teologa. Chicken
broth with pieces of bread.
Frejoles a la trujillana.
Black beans with sesame seeds snd hot chilli pepper.
Pepián de pava.
Turkey stew with rice and corn.
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CESAR P. RIOS