| Kuelap is an ancient and truly magnificent | | | | Kuelap is the biggest and most famous of |
| structure. The only place that can really compare | | | | Chachapoya architectural sites, only one among |
| to its size, mystery and grandeur is the | | | | hundreds of similarly constructed settlements |
| Sanctuary of MachuPicchu, but even then, Kuelap | | | | straddling ridges and clinging tomountain tops. It is |
| is at least twice as old and quite a bit bigger- it is | | | | presumed to have taken at least 200 years to |
| estimated to contain 3 times more material than | | | | complete and was only brought to the world's |
| Egypt's largest pyramid! | | | | attention in1843, when it was found in remarkably |
| It was built by the Chachapoyas (meaning the | | | | good condition by Juan Crisóstomo Nieto. |
| warriors of the clouds), which was what the Inkas | | | | It was built on top of a huge mountain peak using |
| called these people (the name they used to refer | | | | millions of cubic feet of stone and consists of |
| to themselves is unknown). Very little is currently | | | | massive exterior stone walls, which contain more |
| known of this culture and since the Incas and the | | | | than four hundred buildings inside. It is roughly (no |
| Spanish conquistadors were the principal sources | | | | comma) 584m long and 110m Wide, with 20 |
| of information on the Chachapoyas, unbiased, | | | | meter high walls. |
| first-hand information of this indigenous culture | | | | Inside the Kuelap fortress can be found various |
| remains scarce. Much of what we do know about | | | | structures whose use, or purpose, is a complete |
| them is based on archaeological evidence from | | | | mystery. One, known as " El Tintero," is a large |
| ruins, pottery, tombs and other artifacts. | | | | stone structure built in the shape of an inverted |
| The Chachapoyas were an Andean people who | | | | cone, a real challenge to the laws of gravity, since |
| lived in the cloud forests of the Amazonas region | | | | the diameter of its top is much larger than that |
| of present-day Peru and one of the most | | | | of its bottom. Some think it was a prison. Others |
| advanced civilizations to develop in this tropical | | | | think it was an oracle observatory where the |
| jungle region. | | | | shaman would go inside to observe a special star |
| Studies of pre-Inka Chachapoya skeletal remains | | | | pass over "the lens" to signal an exact time or |
| from Salsipuedes and other burial | | | | event of the year. |
| Sites indicate that the Chachapoyas were of | | | | Around the fortress, set inside each of the five |
| Andean stock but, on average, taller thantheir | | | | walls, are gigantic open doorways or portals. The |
| contemporaries in other parts of ancient Peru | | | | best preserved portal, and probably the principal |
| (1.59 meters for men and 1.46 meters for | | | | one, is 10m high and 3m wide. As you go inside |
| women). | | | | the entryway you'll see a passage that looks like |
| Among the scattered colonial descriptions of | | | | a ramp with walls and if you continue along this |
| Chachapoyas, almost all the Chroniclers | | | | passage it will start to narrow down to a small |
| commented on the beauty and white skin of the | | | | tunnel until, eventually, it will only allow the |
| women. Even Father Calancha succumbed to their | | | | passage of one person at a time. This would have |
| beauty, noting: | | | | been an ideal place to fend off enemies; since the |
| "These are the... most graceful Indians in all the | | | | walls are too high to scale or raise ladders to |
| Indies and the women are the most beautiful." | | | | access, the gigantic doors would seem the logical |
| The chronicler Pedro Cieza de León described | | | | way for an enemy to storm inside. However, |
| them: | | | | once they had started up the ramp, they would |
| "They are the... most handsome of all the people | | | | discover too late, that the passageway narrowed |
| that I have seen in Indies, and their wives were | | | | down to where only one person at a time could |
| so beautiful that because of their gentleness, | | | | squeeze inside the citadel. |
| many of them deserved to be the Incas' wives | | | | Though it might seems that Kuelap was built for |
| and to also be taken to the Sun Temple (...) The | | | | defensive purposes, the true reason for its |
| women and their husbands always dressed in | | | | construction remains unknown. Some have tried |
| woolen clothes and in their heads they wear their | | | | to demonstrate that it, was more than a |
| llautos, which are a sign they wear to be known | | | | fortress; it might have been a fortified place |
| everywhere." | | | | destined to serve as refuge to the population in |
| Their art style also reflects a mix of local and | | | | emergency cases. Some say that the |
| exotic influences. According to the analysis of the | | | | Chachapoyas didn't build their citadels on the tops |
| Chachapoyas objects, their cultural goods have | | | | of mountains for defensive reasons at all, but in |
| Andean roots and do not exhibit Amazon cultural | | | | order to make maximum use of the land for |
| tradition. The well-preserved burial offerings found | | | | cultivation. |
| near the Laguna de los Cóndores (the lake of | | | | Referred to as the 'Machu Picchu of the north,' |
| the condors) are playing a vital part in revealing | | | | there is still a great deal to discover and |
| answers regarding the genesis of the style. | | | | investigate about Kuelap. It has a veil of mystery |
| Recurring images found throughout the area in | | | | that intrigues all those who visit it, although they |
| pictographs and in textiles and gourds display | | | | are few due to its remote location, but many say |
| human figures sporting feathered headdresses, | | | | that its beauty far outweighs the hardships of |
| which suggests common narratives and beliefs | | | | getting there. Over the past decade, the Peruvian |
| and the myths they reflect. Another image found | | | | government has been working on making it easier |
| near the laguna is that of a feline-like animal with | | | | for tourists to access. Kuelap is a treasure of |
| fanged teeth. Such representations may reflect | | | | ancient secrets that deserves to be viewed and |
| aspects of Chachapoya symbolism, whose | | | | protected. |
| meaning has been lost in time. | | | | |