Chavín de Huántar
A temple from 1200 BC and its underground galleries, long before the Incas.
Duration
5 hrs – 7 hrs
Difficulty
●●●●●
Best time
In the morning
Open
Closed Monday
Entry price
To confirm
Chavín de Huántar was a major ceremonial centre between 1200 and 500 BC, long before the Incas: one of the oldest complex cultures in the Andes, whose influence spread over much of present-day Peru.
The site is built of stone platforms pierced by a network of underground galleries, narrow and unlit. At the centre of one stands the Lanzón, a four-and-a-half-metre granite monolith, still in its original position. The galleries were built for acoustics: ducts amplified the sound of conch trumpets and made it impossible to locate.
Getting there
A hundred and ten kilometres east of Huaraz, three hours by road over the Cahuish pass at four thousand five hundred metres.
What the price covers
paid site entry, rate to be confirmed; the museum is included or separate depending on the season
Rules on site
The galleries are low, narrow and have no side exits: hard going if you are claustrophobic. The road crosses a pass at four thousand five hundred metres, which catches out unacclimatised bodies.
