June 15 - Kuelap, fortified Chachapoya city

Kuelap is about 3 to 4  hours from the town of Chachapoyas and just 30 minutes from our lodge.It is at about 3000 meters altitude and occupies at least 6 acres although it would appear that if further excavation were done the site would be much larger.

 We hiked up to the ruins 30 minutes then spent 3 hours exploring them with our very knowledgible guide, Alicia.

Massive stone walls surround the 500 round stone houses within.

There were three well fortified entrances to the city.

This look out tower was on one end. The site is at about 3000 meters and existed for 1000 years from 500 AD to 1500 when the Chachapoyas were conquered by the Incas, shortly before the arrival of Pizzaro.

The site was filled with tree and these bromiliads plants.

This classic Chachapoya design supposedly represents a feline eye and is found only on houses of the elite.

The house in the background is a reconstruction of the original Chachapoya houses. In the foreground are the foundation of other houses. Obviously the city was very compacted with the foundation of one house abutting it`s neighbor. There are over 500 of these round foundations. Over the 1000 years of occupation, houses were destroyed and other round houses rebuilt on top of the foundation of earlier houses. It is thought that the city was not a fort but rather a defended town (much like small defended towns on the Iberian peninsular). There were certainly religeous buildings in the town and some say that the front and back gates to the town were aligned so that they let the sun in and out exactly at the winter solstice.

This major building flares out in a cone like fashion and is considered to be of religeous significance.

The Choctumal Lodge where we stayed for 2 nights on our visit to Kuelap.