Bookshelf bricks
Quake-resistant building.
McKay Savage — CC BY 2.0 · Martin St-Amant (S23678) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Francisco Anzola — CC BY 2.0 · LuisHauMoran — CC BY-SA 4.0
A great adobe and clay pyramid in the middle of modern Miraflores, among apartment blocks and streets, built of seven stepped platforms; it was a ceremonial and administrative centre of the «Lima culture», which flourished on the coast between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD, centuries before the Incas. Most striking is how it was built: millions of mud bricks stacked upright like books on a shelf, with gaps between them, a technique researchers think helped the building withstand the region's frequent earthquakes. Visitors walk on paths over the platforms, past plazas, walls and the spots where offerings were found. Visits are by guided tour; the site has a small museum of finds such as pottery and textiles, and a garden of native plants and ancient local animals such as alpacas. The best time is the night tours, when the pyramid is lit and the city's towers rise around it. The site is closed on Tuesdays. Next to it is a well-known restaurant overlooking the floodlit pyramid. It combines with the nearby Miraflores clifftop promenade in half a day.
Quake-resistant building.
The pyramid lit up.
Among the towers.
Calle General Borgoño, Miraflores, Lima
Yes: the pyramid is lit with the Miraflores towers around it, and evenings are cooler. Night tours run Wednesday to Sunday at a slightly higher price.
