TRAVEL AND TOURS

The Sachapuyos built impressive citadels on the top of local mountains in order to make maximum use of the land for cultivation.

Their stone temples and fortresses harmonized with the unrivalled countryside of the region. A sample of the greatness of this people, of whom we know very little is the fortress of Kuelap, a dazzling jewel at 3,000 m.a.s.l.

The citadel of Kuelap, located in the department of Amazonas, has unique and exceptional features that can't be compared with any of Peru's other archeological remains. Its name comes from the word "Cónlap", the name of the people who inhabited the area and paid tribute to the Spaniards in 1591.

Kuelap has series of embankments, 15 to 20 meters wide, towered by inclined walls. Its entrances are exceptional; built in the shape of funnels with an outer width of three meters and seventy centimeters of inner width.

Some scientists maintain that the city, discovered in 1841 by a Judge of the First Instance, Juan Crisostomo Nieto, was inhabited between 500 and 1,000 AD and that as much as 25 million cubic meters of material were used in its construction: three times the volume of the great pyramid of Keops in Egypt.

For reasons that are, to this day, still unknown, the inhabitants of Kuelap had abandoned their city long before the arrival of the Spaniards,. The Italian, Antonio Raimondi who in 1860 was the first scientist to study the area, discovered in the site the skeleton of a man two meters tall and skulls with blonde hair, a mystery unsolved to this day.

There is still many things to discover and investigate at Kuelap. Meanwhile, this city, 584 meters long and 110 meters wide with 20 meter high walls, continues cover by a veil of enigma and mystery that fascinates all those who visit it.

THE FORTRESS

The pre-Hispanic city of Kuelap In the district of Tingo, province of Luya, department of Amazonas, lies, divided into two areas: the lower and the upper town.

The skill and wisdom of its mysterious inhabitants, the Sachapuyos, is evident throughout the fortification of Kuelap. They built their city on a mountain summit with the purpose of controlling the access and to make use of the slopes as land for cultivation.

Basically, the citadel of Kuelap consists of two enormous human-made overlying platforms above which stands what was once the settled area. It has three entrances; two are located at the East and the third one is at the opposite end of the fortress.

Its imposing defensive battlements, built with limestone, rise 20 meters high and delimit the "lower town" and the "upper town" of the citadel.

The Lower Town has 335 circular structures. Standing out in the southern section is a building resembling an inverted cone known as the "Tintero" (Ink well). It measures 5.5 meters in height and 13.7 meters in diameter. Inside, it has a bottle-shaped chamber, which is more than 5 meters deep. It is believed to have been for ceremonial and ritual purposes.

The Upper Town has almost 80 stone buildings. The"Torreon" (Watchtower) and the "Castillo" (Castle) are the more stupendous. The former consists of three overlying platforms and is also thought to have been used for ceremonial purposes. The "Torreon", in the north section of the Upper Town, is as high as seven meters.