Huaca del Dragón — Huaca del Arco Iris (Trujillo) Pyramid
Huaca del Dragón · Huaca del Arco Iris · Rainbow Temple · Chan Chan Dragon
Chimú (Chan Chan culture)·Chimú (Chimor kingdom)·🇵🇪 La Libertad, Trujillo, Huaca del Dragón north of Chan Chan, Peru
About
About Huaca del Dragón — Huaca del Arco Iris (Trujillo) Pyramid
Spectacular Chimú mud-relief pyramid 7.5 m high near Chan Chan — Huaca del Dragón (Huaca del Arco Iris) (800–1400 CE, Chimú Early to Classic). Double platform with ramps, storerooms and exceptional intact adobe niches and friezes of coiled two-headed rainbow dragons (Arco Iris), anthropomorphs and stepped fretwork; largely preserved thanks to early colonial protection and Max Uhle 1920s consolidation. Built of adobe with post and plaster, Chimú religious centre dedicated to rainbow-dragon Ai Apaec. Ancillary to Chan Chan capital. Excavated by Uhle 1910, Larco, and later corrosion studies. Part of Chan Chan Archaeological Zone UNESCO 366.
Why it mattersFinest preserved Chimú relief friezes; rainbow-dragon iconography links Chimú to Moche Ai Apaec continuity; Chan Chan satellite model.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Rainbow dragon identification — Ai Apaec or double-headed serpents
- 02Function — temple vs administrative
Theories
- 01Chimú religious continuity from Moche
- 02Frieze as drainage and symbolic combined
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 800–1400 CE (Chimú Early to Classic, peak 1200–1400)
- Period
- Chimú (Chan Chan culture)
- Culture
- Chimú (Chimor kingdom)
- Builders
- Chimú lords of Chan Chan
- Purpose
- Rainbow-dragon mud-relief temple pyramid
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 800–1400 CE (Chimú Early to Classic, peak 1200–1400)
Initial construction
c. 1571 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
8.0765° S · 79.0489° W · 30 m · 3 mapped features
Upper platform with niches
platformRainbow dragon frieze upper ramp
8.0766° S · 79.0490° WLower platform storerooms
storeroomStoreroom court east
8.0764° S · 79.0488° WRamp entry north
rampSloping ramp with relief walls
8.0763° S · 79.0491° W
Gallery