Kuelap, one of the largest ancient monuments of the Americas, was a fortified citadel in northern Peru on the slopes of the Andes. The remains of the settlement sit 3,000 meters above sea level and the original fortress covered 25,000 square miles. (...)
Kuelap, one of the largest ancient monuments of the Americas, was a fortified citadel in northern Peru on the slopes of the Andes. The remains of the settlement sit 3,000 meters above sea level and the original fortress covered 25,000 square miles. It consisted of buildings of civil, religious, and military purposes as well as 420 circular stone dwellings, which contained geometric friezes, mural iconography, and high relief carvings. The citadel was surrounded by walls reaching 60 feet tall in some places and constructed out of large limestone blocks. Kuelap was the political center of the Chachapoya civilization, a pre-Columbian culture that flourished from about 900 to 1400 AD. At its height, the city may have had up to 300,000 inhabitants, mostly warriors, merchants, shamans, and farmers. The Chachapoya civilization collapsed in the mid-16th century due to the Spanish conquest, and Kuelap was abandoned. Kuelap’s condition deteriorated over time due to fires, rain, wind erosion, and lack of an effective drainage system, as well as growth of tree roots.
