Travel Guide Cumbemayo

Cumbemayo, the largest group of ruins in the region, is considered to have been one of the most important works of hydraulic engineering in pre-Columbian America ("kumpi mayo" means "well-made canal" in Quechua). The site features an aqueduct carved into the rock, caves decorated with frescoes(petróglifos), and a cavity that was once a sanctuary, the "mouth" of the human figure evoked by the rock and accessed by a carved staircase. Other blocks around it, the Frailones, have been carved by erosion and are reminiscent of hooded monks. The site is located at an altitude of 3,500 metres, 20 km southwest of Cajamarca.