Sipan and Museum

  

General information

Destination
Chiclayo, Peru

Program details

Learn all about the fascinating pre-Hispanic Moche Culture in this fully-guided private tour from Chiclayo. Visit the impressive Huaca Rajada archaeological complex with its enormous adobe flat-topped pyramids. Then tour the impressive Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipan at nearby Lambayeque, where many of the artefacts found at Huaca Rajada are housed.



After being picked up from your hotel and meeting your expert local guide we’ll head eastwards, our destination the magnificent archaeological site at Huaca Rajada. The complex, consisting of several enormous adobe flat-topped pyramids, eroded by centuries of rain, wind and sun was first excavated by archaeologist Walter Alva in 1987. The dig resulted in the discovery of fourteen different tombs, the most important of which was that of the Lord of Sipan, and considered to be one of the most impressive pre-colonial burials in the Americas.



Many of the artefacts found here are housed in the magnificent Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipan at nearby Lambayeque, designed by Alva in the form of a flat-topped pyramids of the Moche culture (first to seventh centuries). Nothing can prepare you for the sheer splendour of the magnificent objects on display here. You’ll find more than 2,000 artefacts worked from solid gold including torques, breastplates and jewellery.



All exhibits are original pieces and have been painstakingly cleaned and restored to the minutest detail, bringing them back to their former glory. The leading representative of the Moche culture, the Lord of Sipan, considered to be the most important governor of ancient Peru some 1,700 years ago, is buried.





Languages

English and Spanish.