THE PYRAMIDS OF THE SUN AND THE MOON

 

In the rich and ancient valley of Moche, between the 1st and 7th centuries AC, one of the most fascinating civilizations of ancient Peru developed: THE MOCHICAS, who chose this place as their political and religious capital and erected two enormous and mysterious pyramids in this peaceful and fertile valley.

 THE PYRAMID OF THE SUN was an administrative building, 43 meters high, 228 meters long and 103 meters wide. It is estimated that it had 13 levels, 5 large terraces, and that nearly 140 million adobe bricks were used for its construction, making it one of the largest pre-Columbian buildings in Peru.

  

THE PYRAMID OF THE MOON, just 500 meters from the Pyramid of the Sun, this unique building played a religious role. Its construction features include a square base measuring 87 meters per side, a height of 22 meters, three platforms, and seven levels or floors. Unlike the Pyramid of the Sun, where no major excavations or studies have been carried out on the Pyramid of the Moon, research work has been conducted in the last 30 years, resulting in significant discoveries for Peruvian archaeology.

These prodigious works of the Mochicas are only 5 kilometers from the city of Trujillo, on the Pyramid of the Moon it is known that it was a ceremonial center where human sacrifices were often carried out. On the facade of the temple there are scenes of sacrifices, highlighting above all the image of their main God AIA PAEC the main God of the Mochicas, within the high relief friezes it can be seen that the images are linked to the cults of water, fertility and their worldview.

  

Regarding its construction process, it is known that the MOCHICAS used to build a building where they carried out their activities, whether political, administrative or religious, and upon the death of the leader or king, the building was completely closed and on top of this building a new one was built where the new leader and the rest of society lived and so on for centuries so that each pyramid was occupied for many years until they were abandoned due to a pandemic or an earthquake.