The fortress of Kuelap (or Cuélap), associated with the Chachapoyas culture, consists of massive exterior stone walls containing more than four hundred buildings. The structure, situated on a ridge overlooking the Utcubamba Valley in northern Peru, is roughly 600 yards in length and 110 yards in width. It was likely built to defend against the Huari or other hostile peoples. Archaeological evidence shows that the structure was built around 800 A.D. and occupied until the Early Colonial period (1532-1570).

This prime example of Chachapoyan architecture, Kuelap, remained ignored by the outside world until 1843, when Juan Crisostomo Nieto, a Chachapoyas judge, made a survey of the area and took note of Kuelap’s great size, guided by villagers who had known of the site for generations. Subsequently, Kuelap earned the attention of explorers, historians and archaeologists. Notable observers who helped publicize the site included Frenchman Louis Langlois (who wrote a description of Kuelap in the 1930s), Adolph Francis Alphonse Bandelier, Ernst Middendorf, Charles Wiener and Antonio Raimondi.

The ruins of Kuelap are located at the summit of a hill that rises on the left bank of the Utcubamba. Access to Kuelap is gained through El Tingo, a town at approximately 2000 m.a.s.l. near the bank of the Utcubamba. A horse trail also winds along the left bank of the Tingo River and leads eventually up to Marcapampa, a small plain near the site. The monumental ruins of Kuelap are situated at 3000 m above sea level. Judging from its sheer size, Kuelap’s construction required considerable effort, rivaling or surpassing other archaeological structures in the Americas in size. The structure is almost 600 yards in length and its walls rise up to 50-60 feet in height.

There are multiple levels or platforms within the complex. Because of its extension, these flat elevations support about 400 constructions, most of them cylindrical. From them, only bases remain. In some cases, there are decorated walls with friezes of symbolic content that, in general, seem to evoke eyes and birds that take the form of a letter V in a chain.

It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful archaeological sites of Peru and surely the most enigmatic of all.