Zaña

Zaña was founded in 1563 and grew wealthy on sugar worked by enslaved Africans, wealthy enough that it was sacked by English pirates in 1686 and rich enough to keep going afterwards, until the river flooded catastrophically in 1720 and the town was largely abandoned. What remains are the roofless shells of large conventual churches - San Agustín, La Merced, San Francisco - standing among fields, arches and vaults open to the sky. The other reason to come is the Museo Afroperuano, opened in 2005, which documents the history of enslavement in the Lambayeque valleys, the culture that grew from it, and the town's continuing Afro-Peruvian community, one of the oldest in the country. It is a small museum making a case that is not made in many places in Peru, and it works with the community on music and oral history.

What you actually see

• The ruined churches - roofless conventual shells with arches and vaults standing.
• The Afro-Peruvian museum - the history of enslavement and the culture that followed.
• The community - one of Peru's oldest Afro-descendant populations.
• The 1720 flood - the event that ended the town's colonial prosperity.

When to go

Year-round; hot from December to April. Two to three hours including the museum. Check museum hours - it is small and community-linked.

Honest expectations

The ruins are unfenced and unstable in places - do not climb. Little signage at the church sites. The museum is small and mainly in Spanish. Hot and unshaded among the ruins.

Nearby

Chiclayo is north-west; the Zaña valley and Cerro Corbacho are inland.