📷 Elemaki · CC BY-SA 2.5

Where in the world

Peru

Kuelap

Chachapoya · Peru

Field notes

civilizations: Chachapoya
types: Fortress
occupied: 900 CE — 1,470 CE
country: Peru

The site

Kuelap is a walled settlement raised by the Chachapoya culture high in the mountains of the Amazonas region of northern Peru. Perched on a ridge above the Utcubamba Valley near the towns of Maria and Tingo, its most striking feature is the great stone rampart that rings the site. Occupied across the medieval centuries, this cloud-forest stronghold remains one of the finest surviving works of the Chachapoya, and sits today on Peru's tentative list for World Heritage status.

Nearby sites