Lambayeque
Kingdom of Powerful Lords
The city is located on the north coast of Peru, about 750 kilometers from Lima. It borders Piura to the north – La Libertad to the south – Cajamarca to the east – and Mar de Grau to the west. It is a region of fertile valleys and a rich coastal area. The climate is subtropical, with high humidity and little rain on the south coast. The maximum temperature can be between 35°C (january to april) and the minimum temperature 15°C (July). The average annual temperature is between 22.5°C and 23°C.
The riches of the Lord of Sipan and the Ancient Lord of Sipan are exhibited in the magnificent Royal Tomb Museum of Sipan (Lambayeque) and in the Site Museum adjacent to the Tucume pyramids. In Ferreñafe is the Sican Museum.
How you get to Lambayeque
By plane from Lima to … and the rest by bus or car
To fly from Lima to Chiclayo there are daily departures from the Jorge Chavez International Airport, located in Lima. To get to Chiclayo, you must make your reservations to the Airport Captain FAP José Quiñonez Gonzáles (Airport code CIX), a small recently remodeled airport with comfortable facilities, located about 10 minutes from the City Center. Flights to Chiclayo from Lima last approximately one hour and fifteen minutes.
By bus
To travel by bus from Lima to Chiclayo, the only route is via the Panamericana North, which leads from Lima to Chiclayo, which is in good condition. The trip by land takes approximately 12 hours, and 770 km are traveled. There are several transportation companies in Lima, however the best option with the greatest diversity of transportation lines is located in the Lima Norte Plaza Terminal.
By car
If you have particular mobility, similar to the previous case, you should follow the Panamericana Norte highway that leads from Lima to Chiclayo. You will be arriving in approximately 10 hours.
Points of interest
Lambayeque – Valley of the Pyramids
Lambayeque Valley is also known as “The Valley of the Pyramids” because there are 250 pyramids in the valley – one of the most impressive pyramid sites in the world. The archaeological excavations in this valley continue and archaeologists are discovering more and more pyramid complexes.
Legends about the Valley of the Pyramids
Lambayeque Valley is notorious among the local population. They are afraid of these places and consider them cursed. However, the local shaman healers invoke the powers of the valley in their many rituals.
The three ancient cities were built successively in the valley: Pampa Grande, Butan Grande and Túcume. Every city was abandoned before a new one was built. For some reason, the buildings on the pyramids were burned and left the city to found the next one.
The oldest city is known as Pampa Grande. There is only one pyramid in this city.
The next complex was the Lambayeque-built Batan Grande and had 6 pyramids. The last of the cities Túcume covers an area of 2.5 km² and includes 26 large pyramids and platforms. The massive central pyramid of the city – the Huaca Larga, has the longest adobe structure known to this day. The Huaca is 700 meters long, 280 meters wide and thirty meters high (the size of seven football fields). In the burial chambers under the pyramid, 119 bodies were found, which are believed to have been sacrificed.
Discoveries in the pyramids indicate that the pyramids of Tucume served as homes, like a palace for the lords who ruled the whole area. Archeologists believe the most likely explanation is that the lords on these pyramids were rulers from that valley. When you look around the pyramids in Túcume, remember that each one of them has some kind of lord living up there. Lambayeque, like other Andean civilization, believed that the truly mighty gods lived in the mountains. When the Lambayeque built a pyramid, they built a mountain of imitation with the same supernatural power that they hoped would control the forces of nature. And just as the gods lived in the mountains, the lords would live on these pyramids to protect the people from what they most feared.
But what were they so afraid of?
This region is exposed to some of the most extreme climatic disasters on the planet. These disasters were caused by the violent climatic events known as El Niños. Floods, sandstorms, droughts – for the Lambayeque, these climate catastrophes could only be understood as the wrath of the angry gods. When the pyramids could not protect themselves against the catastrophe, they had to be cleansed and abandoned by fire. And new and more pyramids built to replace them. It indicates that the valley is dotted with the ruins of so many abandoned pyramids.
More points you have to see
- Catedral de la Ciudad de Chiclayo
- Palacio Municipal de Chiclayo
- Capilla de La VerónicaPlazuela Elías Aguirre
- Mercado Artesanal de Monsefú
- Eten
- Saña
- Complexo Arqueológico de Huaca Rajada (Señor de Sipán)
- Balneario de Pimentel
- Reserva Ecológica Chaparrí
- Ciudad de Ferreñafe
- Iglesia Santa Lucía de Ferreñafe
- Museo Nacional Sicán
- Santuario Histórico Bosque de Pómac
- Ciudad de Lambayeque
- Iglesia San Pedro de Lambayeque
- Museo Nacional Tumbas Reales de Sipán
- Museo Arqueológico Nacional Bruning
- Complejo Arqueológico de Huaca Chotuna
- Complejo Arqueológico de Túcume
