The first cultures (yunga or yunca) settled here, on the coast, 60 km south of the actual Chimbote, 150 km from Huaraz, departmental capital of Ancash, and 380 km from Lima. The name of Casma could come from the Quechua kansa ("cotton") or kaxsma (auricle, allusion to the configuration of the site, between the hills). Around the city, the archaeological sites are among the oldest in Peru. Between the 7th and 9th centuries B.C., the contributions of the Andean cultures gave an originality to the constructions half adobe, half stone. Casma was part of the Grán-Chimú empire that extended from Tumbes in the north to Paramonga in the south of the city. Conquered by Túpac Yupanqui, after bitter fights, Casma will move during two centuries, according to the foundations and abandonments practiced by the Spaniards, before settling definitively in 1751. Completely destroyed by the earthquake of May 31, 1970, the city, rebuilt, slumbers in the burning sun (it is the "city of the eternal sun"), protected by the hills from the winds blowing from the desert pampas. Casma would be forgotten by all if it did not have, 7 km away, one of the most fascinating pre-Incan sites in Peru: the Cerro Sechin. The most important local festival is that of María Magdalena, on July 22.If you want to make a stop on the northern road between Lima and Trujillo, Casma is exactly halfway, the site of Sechin is not lacking in interest and the beaches, especially Tortugas, are beautiful. We recommend this stop rather than the city of Chimbote, industrial and without much attraction.

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