HUACAS DEL SOL Y LA LUNA

If you are in Trujillo, you cannot miss Huacas del Sol y de la Luna. They are located in the Capital of the Moche Culture. The site is easy to access, it's located at only 15 minutes (8 km) away from downtown of the Capital of the Primavera, in the Moche Valley. Before arriving to the Huacas, in Campiña de Moche you can find, the only rural area where inhabitants still devote themselves to agriculture, stock breeding, handicrafts, and the typical gastronomy of this place.

The Moche Culture, also known as Mochica, has left numerous samples of so realistic pottery. It shows animals, human faces, and every aspect of everyday life of that time – the portrayal is unbelievably real, as it was alive.  Supposedly, Pottery was part of Mochica funerary practices – it was used to immortalize the face of the deceased, and due to that the portraylals often carry very personal features, e.g. disfigurement, birthmarks or simply old age. The Moche Culture is said to have existed around 9 centuries (from 100 BC to 800 AD) in the North of Peru.

The Huaca de la Luna served primarily a ceremonial and religious function, though it contains burials as well. Today the Huaca de la Luna is colored the soft brown. At the time of construction, murals were decorated and also they were painted in black, bright red, sky blue, white, and yellow. The sun and weather has since utterly faded these murals away. Inside the Huaca are other murals created in earlier phases of construction. Many of these depict a deity now known as Ayapec. Ayapec is a pre-Quechua word translating as all knowing.

The Huaca del Sol was composed of four main levels. The structure was expanded and rebuilt by different rulers over the course of time. It is believed to have originally been about 50 meters in height by 160 m. at the base. Located at the center of the Moche capital city, the temple appears to have been used for ritual, ceremonial activities and as a royal residence and burial chambers. Archaeological evidence attests to these functions.

During the Spanish occupation of Peru in the early 17th century, colonists redirected the waters of the Moche River to run past the base of the Huaca del Sol in order to facilitate the looting of gold artifacts from the temple. This and more stories are waiting for you, Come and visit Huacas del Sol y la Luna!