City of Chan Chan in Peru

According to history, Chan Chan was the imperial capital of Chimor, an expansive imperial power of the Chimú culture that ruled the northern coast and central coasts of Peru beginning around 850 and ending around 1470.

The ancient city walls of Chan Chan encompass more than 20 km2 , with a 6 km2 urban nucleus of monumental architecture dominated by large, high walled enclosures built of adobe.

It was believed that the city has been constructed around 850 AD. Chan Chan is large prehistoric urban center in the Lower Moche Valley on the north coast of Peru.

The city of Chan Chan is believed to have housed between 20,000 and 40,000 people at its zenith in the Late Chimú Period between 1300 C.E. and 1470 C.E.

The early kings consistently invested labor in programs of agrarian and territorial expansion. The role of the bureaucracy was extended to encompass rural construction.

The kings maintained their position of power by centralizing that wealth within their palaces, by centralizing the bureaucracy within the palace, and by gradually uniting religious and administrative forms within the place.

From the early beginnings on the Moche Valley, the Chimu gradually extended their control over a strip of coastal desert and river valley over 1000 km in length from the Gulf of Guayaquil to the environs of present-day Lima.
City of Chan Chan in Peru