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About
Nazca Just two hours from Ica, 50 square km of desert floor were covered centuries ago by vast drawings, figures of mammals, insects and deities. The Nazca Lines, discovered in 1927, are the most extraordinary legacy left by a culture that flourished in 300 BC. The lines are a series of complex designs, some up to 300 meters long which can only be seen in their true dimension from the sky, from an altitude of at least 1,500 feet. The Nazca culture is not believed to have been capable of manned flight. But the question remains as to how they crafted the drawings, what technology they used and what purpose the lines served.
The
town of Nazca was founded in 1591 by the Spaniards,
on the valley of Nazca, close to towns inhabited by
old civilizations that had been dominated by the Inca.
The ancestral name was Nanasca.
Nazca,
is a gentle town, slowly developing; in which its main
economic activity is based on the agriculture and the
trade.
Tourism
to this area is related directly with the Nazca Lines
and other archaeological complex as Cahuachi, Estaquería,
Chauchilla cemetery and Paredones. In the city you will
be able to find many ceramic artisans whose style
remembers to their ancestor. Nazca has comfortable hotels,
restaurants, banks, Internet cabins, and an aerodrome.
Nazca Guide
Nazca
Lines
Declared "Archaeological World Heritage
Site" by UNESCO (1994). Located in the arid Peruvian
coastal plain, some 400 km south of Lima, the geoglyphs
of Nazca and the pampas of Jumana cover about 450 sq.
km. These lines, which were scratched on the surface of
the ground between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500, are among
archaeology's greatest enigmas because of their
quantity, nature, size and continuity. The geoglyphs
depict living creatures, stylized plants and imaginary
beings, as well as geometric figures several kilometers
long. They are believed to have had ritual astronomical
functions. In order to appreciate the lines in all its
magnitude, it is only possible from an airplane in
flight.
Archaeological places to north of Nazca City
Aqueducts of Nazca (Puquios) - Cantayoc
Archaeological remains of the Nazca culture,
it shows the high development reached in hydraulic engineering,
complex of underground aqueducts and reservoirs.
"Paredones"
(walls)
Archaeological Inca center, located at 2 km (1.24 miles)
East of Nazca. Constructions of plazas, deposits, fortresses,
ceremonial center.
Archaeological places to south of Nazca City
Cahuachi
Cahuachi was a ceremonial center, a sacred destination
of Nazca pilgrims between 100 and 500 AD. The ceremonies
in the place included the construction of temples using
thousands of
conical or wedge adobe bricks. Each participating
community demonstrated their true belonging to their
religious community by singing, dancing and banqueting,
thus explaining why in Cahuachi there is little garbage,
while offerings abound (pan flutes and musical drums,
sacrificed llamas and guinea pigs, fine textiles, human
burials and pottery representing deities). Main cultural-urban center, built with great urban sense.
The ancient Nazca people built their pyramidal temples
by terracing the fossil sand dunes. In the lowers parts,
smaller architectural mounds, streets and squares give
the site a general city aspect.
Attached to this town were also discovered (1980) a
group of lines traced on the floor in form of trapezes
and serpentines that embrace 1 square km. It is located
at 27 km (16.77 miles) to south of Nazca.
Estaquería
Archaeological complex of the Nazca culture,
solar observatory, on platforms made of adobes and columns
of "huarangos" trunks (variety of tree). This
archaeological complex is near to Cahuachi.
Chauchilla
Pre-Inca cemetery, in which the profanation
of tombs by the huaqueros, have left open some
tombs in which you can appreciate the old inhabitants'
remains. It is located at 28 km (17.4 miles) to the
south of Nazca.
Sacaco
Located at 100 km (62 miles) to the S of Nazca,
it is a rich location of fossil remains, especially
of whales and primitive sharks of the Tertiary Era.
Small paleontological museum. To arrive to this area,
you should take the Pan-American South Highway until
kilometer 539 and take a detour of 1.5 km to the museum
site.
Planetarium Maria Reich
Venturing into boundaries of the world archae-astronomy,
the Nazca Lines show present Maria Reiche's theory, and
the connection she found between the Nazca Lines and
some astronomical events. She theorized the lines were
oriented towards the places on the horizon where
different celestial objects appeared and disappeared.
After the show, weather permitting in a backyard
exploration of the night sky, have a naked-eye view of
the constellations and bright stars of the season along
with telescope, observation of the moon, planets, and
other celestial marvels. Located in Jr. Bolognesi Nº 300
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Hotel Nazca Lines.
Punta San Juan de Marcona
Reserved Area
Located in the coast area, to the west of the Nazca
city, it is an extraordinary marine ecosystem of great
biodiversity; it has a little extension of 54 hectares
and has the biggest population of sea lions (seals) of
the Peru concentrates. The peninsula is characterized by
its abrupt cliffs 30 meters high that hinder the access,
from the high part, to the eighteen beaches that are
formed at level of the reef. Besides the sea lions, in
this Reserved Area inhabits the biggest colony of
penguins of Humboldt (Spheniscus humboldtii) (it
is considered that concentrates more than 50% of the
total population of this species on the Peru), as well
as zarcillos (Larosterna inca) and the three main
species of dung birds (guaneras). While the sea lions
are located in the beaches and salient rocky, the
penguins look for the protection of the cavities that
they are formed in the walls of the cliffs and the birds
rest and they nest in the sharp hillsides and in the
plateau that extends in their higher area. (UNMSM)
If
you visit Nazca, you can continue your trip to
Cuzco by bus (12
hours) or go directly to Arequipa
City (8 hours). These trips are at night and thus you
will gain a day if you do not return to Lima
We
recommend you visit combined Nazca with Paracas,
Cuzco or
Arequipa |
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