The ruins of Chan Chan, located 5 km north-west of the city of Trujillo, in the once fertile valley of the Moche. This was the largest city in pre-Hispanic America. Chan Chan was the capital of the Chimu kingdom (700-1400 AD) and covered an area of ​​over 20 square kilometers of the port of Huanchaco Cerro Campana. Archaeologists believe that there is a population of more than 100 000 people.

Once the capital of a great kingdom of Chimu, today is a huge labyrinth of massive walls, many of them badly damaged. But you can see and appreciate the remains of well-planned streets that intersect at right angles. Sophisticated hydraulic structures, brings water from a considerable distance and Chicama Moche areas, are still visible and can safely be called a miracle of technology even today. Among the buildings can be identified cemeteries and other objects that may have been markets, workshops and barracks.

Chan Chan consisted of 10 large rectangular sectors of the correct form. Each sector was surrounded by high walls, shielding the streets, large and small houses, pyramids, warehouses with food and water tanks. The remains of houses with different ceiling heights and a limited number of doors and windows. There are houses with one room, a low ceiling and a front door with no windows. Huge walls richly decorated with geometric shapes and stylized zoomorphic and mythological creatures.

The ruins of Chan Chan were made to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986. In 2010, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre has begun work on a project for the conservation of the ruins of Chan Chan from destruction. Currently, volunteers from Spain, France, Belgium, Romania and South Korea are working on this project.