Wari (Huari)
City / RuinsSouth America
Capital city of the Wari Empire in central Peru, 22 km northeast of Ayacucho, occupied from approximately 500 to 1000 CE. The Wari were the first large-scale Andean empire and the institutional template the Inca later inherited and expanded. The city covered up to 4 square kilometers at peak, with massive cyclopean enclosure walls up to 12 meters tall built of fitted polygonal stone. Much of the site has been damaged by post-collapse cataclysm and by colonial-era stone removal; what survives includes the Vegachayoq Moqo ritual precinct and extensive subterranean galleries. Independent investigators have documented two distinct construction phases with materially different masonry quality between them.
Look Closer — this site carries open questions: polygonal, interlocking masonry; stones heavier than the period's tools could lift; stones fitted without mortar, almost no gap.
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Walkthrough videos (1)
The Curious Ancient Site Of Wari In The Highlands Of PeruBrien Foerster
Nearby sites
- Vilcashuaman80 km
- Vilcabamba (Espíritu Pampa)140 km
- Choquequirao165 km