FORTALEZA DE KUÉLAP

It is to a couple of French anthropologists, the Reichlen, that we owe the systematic exploration, in 1948, of Kuélap, one of the major archaeological sites of Peru. Its access is today greatly facilitated by the cable car. Unfortunately in April 2022 a landslide made collapse one of the external walls of the fortress, the visit since then is more panoramic and the works for its rehabilitation are slow to be put in place.

Perched at 3,080 m above sea level, in the middle of a jungle of orchids clinging to the moss-covered trees, this fortified complex consists of two superimposed platforms on which a village was built. The wall of enclosure (the most imposing after Saqsaywamán in the Sacred Valley near Cusco) runs on 584 m of length and 110 m of width, for a maximum height of 30 m. It is a part of this enclosure which was damaged. The three narrow exits allowed to defend effectively the citadel and to resist to the earthquakes.

Among the 400 circular dwellings, the most remarkable buildings are the Tintero, an inverted cone more than 5 m high, inside which a chamber was drilled at a depth of 5 m; the six buildings decorated with stone friezes representing puma eyes; the Castillo, a 3-story ritual monument; and the Torreón, a watchtower rising 7 m. The ensemble belongs to the Chachapoyas culture, "mountain with misty top" in Quechua, which knew its apogee between 900 and 1200.