Marcahuamachuco

Marcahuamachuco runs for around five kilometres along a narrow plateau at 3,600 metres, and the walls are what strike people first - long stone galleries standing up to twelve metres high, double-faced with internal chambers and passages, together with great circular enclosures up to fifty metres across. It was built and occupied from around 400 to 1000 AD by a highland society independent of both Wari and the coastal states, and its scale and defensibility have prompted readings as a ceremonial centre, a seat of regional lords, or a place of periodic assembly for dispersed communities. Little is settled. It is often called the Machu Picchu of the north, which sets the wrong expectation - the architecture is massive and austere rather than refined - but the scale is real, and it takes several hours to walk. Conservation work has stabilised sections, and it remains very lightly visited.

What you actually see

• The galleries - double-faced stone walls standing up to twelve metres.
• The circular enclosures - great round structures up to fifty metres across.
• The extent - around five kilometres of building along a plateau ridge.
• The independence - a highland society outside both Wari and coastal control.

When to go

May to September; the plateau is wet and cold in the rains. Three to five hours to walk the site properly. Guides from Huamachuco are worth taking.

Honest expectations

At 3,600 metres with a lot of walking on uneven ground and no shade. Weather changes fast and fog can close the plateau. Facilities are minimal. The Machu Picchu comparison misleads - this is massive plain stonework, not fine masonry.

Nearby

Huamachuco is below; the Wiracochapampa site is on the same plateau.