UJ #14 - Qhapac Ñan

LOOKING FOR THE LEGACY FAR FROM THE ASPHALT
Lima is characterized by having
huacas inside the city.
MATEO SALADO,
A JEWEL IN THE CITY
Pedro Espinoza Pajuelo / Complejo Arqueológico Mateo Salado
The Mateo Salado archaeological complex is located at the
heart of Lima, between Breña and Pueblo Libre districts.
Its constructions made of ‘tapia’ (rammed earth), emerge
among the high-rise buildings, creating a unique landscape
where history coexists with modernity.
Mateo Salado was an administrative-ceremonial center
that belonged to the Ychsma Lordship which, the same as
Huaycan de Cieneguilla, was reoccupied when the Incas
annexed it to the empire. The complex has five walled
pyramids. The Longitudinal Coastal Highway of the Qhapaq
Ñan came from the north, just beside pyramid A, which was
used as main temple of the complex.
The 18-m high pyramids were also used as houses for the
Ychsma and Inca elites. With the arrival of the Spaniards to
Lima, the place was plundered, began to deteriorate and
its area was reduced with the emergence of farmlands,
companies and squatters.
This process of neglect ended in 2000, when researchers
started to recover Mateo Salado and it was listed as a
National Cultural Heritage Site in the following year. In 2007,
the Ministry of Culture started to work on its enhancement,
and the National Office of the Qhapaq Ñan implemented
a new comprehensive project focused on the area in
2016. This project is concerned with working on the huaca,
recovering it and bringing it closer to the neighbors as a
space to be publicly used.
Mateo Salado, together with the Larco Museum located a
few blocks away in Pueblo Libre district, is one of the most
important tourist attractions of the city of Lima.
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