Peru Guide
Around Lima
Cajamarquilla
Opening time: Daily 9am–5pm
Price: $1.50
First occupied in the Huari era (600–1000 AD), CAJAMARQUILLA flourished under the Cuismancu culture, a city-building state contemporary with the better-known Chimu in northern Peru. It was an enclosed city containing thousands of small, complex dwellings clustered around a higher section, probably nobles' quarters, and numerous small plazas. The site was apparently abandoned before the Incas arrived in 1470, possibly after being devastated by an earthquake. Pottery found here in the 1960s by a group of Italian archaeologists suggests habitation over 1300 years ago.
To get to Cajamarquilla, the colectivo will drop you off at the refinery turn-off before Km 10 of the Carretera Central, then it's about 4km, or an hour's walk to the ruins which are well hidden next to an old hacienda.