An ancient city
Chan Chan is a ruined and abandoned city, the capital of the Chimú kingdom (c. 1100-1470) and the largest city in pre-Columbian America. The ruins cover nearly 14 sq mi (36 sq km) in what is now a particularly arid section of the coastal desert of northern Peru. The Chimú had no writing system and what is known of their historical and mythological traditions comes from records by Spanish writers after the conquest and what can be deduced from carvings which survive in the city ruins.
