Temple of the Sun and the Moon

Among the fascinating ruins of the department of La Libertad, in the city of Trujillo is one of the most impressive archaeological remains in the entire region: Temple of the Sun and the Moon. These buildings, a legacy of the Moche culture, were two centers of great importance that today have their doors open to show the greatness of this culture. Prepare your visit to this archaeological complex with the information that we tell you here and do not miss them, because the Huacas del Sol y la Luna will leave you speechless. They are located one in front of the other -about 500 meters, approximately-, as if both buildings were predestined to stare at each other for the rest of eternity. They are the Temple of the Sun and the Moon, two important pre-Inca pyramids that were built entirely in adobe, a material made of mud (clay and sand), and that contains countless mysteries and legends inside.

These pyramids belonged to the Moche culture, which had its heyday during the 2nd and 7th centuries, in what we know today as the Libertad region, in northern Peru. They are located 30 minutes from the city of Trujillo, the capital of the Liberteño department, and are part of the most important archaeological complex built by the Mochica culture. This area -which had the German archaeologist Max Uhle as a pioneer in his research- is also made up of a political, ceremonial, administrative, urbanization and cemetery center of this ancestral culture, although it was also occupied by the ancient members of the Chimú and Sicán cultures. (this, after the cessation of the Moche culture in the 7th century), according to various historians.

The enigmatic history of the Temple of the Sun and the Moon

We cannot talk about the Temple of the Sun and the Moon without first reviewing the history of the Moche or Mochica culture. The Moches were a culture that lived from the 1st to the 9th century on the central coast of Peru, between the Lambayeque and Huarmey valleys. It is one of the most important cultures in the entire history of Peru and stands out mainly for its impressive adobe architecture and its metallurgy and pottery works, one of the most innovative of the time. In addition, the Moches were great hydraulic engineers. In this way they were able to solve the scarcity of water in the most desert areas of their territory, such as the valley where the Huacas del Sol y la Luna are located. The Temple of the Sun and the Moon are the most important construction in all of Moche history, since the Moche valley, the place where they are located, was considered the capital of this culture. Between these two impressive huacas was the urban center of the Moche, where there were squares, houses and streets where a large hierarchical society dedicated to different professions lived. For example, the upper class, formed by the priests, had their houses at the foot of the Temple of the Moon, in the center were the artisans or textile workers, belonging to the upper middle class, and the farmers and fishermen lived in the surroundings, since they were part of the lower class. Now that you know a little more about the history of the Moche culture and its idiosyncrasies, we are going to fully immerse ourselves in the history that we came to tell you about and for which you are here, that of the Temple of the Sun and the Moon.

Tour of the Temple of the Sun and the Moon

The first thing we want to tell you about them is something impressive: these huacas were totally unknown until 28 years ago, when they were discovered by chance. Before this, the huacas were completely covered and looked like nothing more than a hill, which people used as a means of entertainment, for walks.

Temple of the Moon

We begin this tour at the Temple of the Moon, a large pyramid that reaches 21 meters in height and is made up of three platforms and four ceremonial plazas. The Huaca de la Luna was a temple in which, among other activities, human sacrifices were made. Although the Temple of the Sun is the largest building in the area, it is presumed that the Temple of the Moon was the main temple of the Moche culture. This space would have been used as a scene for human sacrifice rituals, since up to 40 corpses belonging to young people, adults and warriors were discovered inside. There is even a theory that in this place combats were carried out between two contenders, in which the winner was only the one who was left alive. To choose the people who were going to be sacrificed, a fight was held and the loser was beheaded. His head was offered to Aiapaec, the beheading god, both feared and adored and in charge of punishing and protecting the Moche in equal parts. In addition to the warlike aspect that the Temple of the Moon keeps, it is also home to beautiful polychrome murals, where the maximum God of the Moches, Ai Apaec, stands out. This supreme being had feline features -with impressive fangs- and bore the nickname of the Slaughtering God, since human sacrifices were made in his name to guarantee the prosperity of the crops. One of the most amazing things about the Temple of the Moon are its colorful reliefs. The Moches used oxides from different minerals to give color to the walls of their buildings and thus managed that, despite the passing of the years, the images they created continue with a color practically intact. In their reliefs they told stories of their day to day and represented an infinite number of symbols: priests dancing, losing warriors as prisoners, gods represented by different animals... But among all the reliefs there is one that takes center stage in the entire huaca: that of Aiapaec. Another of the curiosities of the Temple of the Moon is that there are five superimposed levels. This is because every time a new president arrived, he ordered the previous temple to be buried and sealed to start a new construction from scratch under his instructions.

Temple of the Sun

The Temple of the Sun, for its part, was the political-administrative center of the Moche culture. It is the largest pyramid in the place: with its 345 meters long, 160 wide and 30 high, it commands respect for everyone who passes through the area. It has a rectangular base and has five terraces, where the ancient Moches carried out political and administrative activities, among others. According to legend, its construction required 140 million pieces of adobe -placed manually one by one- and the physical effort of no less than... 250,000 men! But there is an even more impressive fact: the legend says that it took only three days to build the Huaca del Sol. Clearly the Moche were not great defenders of workers' rights. Despite the fact that intense excavation work has been carried out in the Huacas del Sol y la Luna for 28 years, these archaeological complexes still have many hidden secrets. One of them came to light in 2013: excavators found a total of 300 tombs accompanied by valuable ceramics. What will be the next treasure to come to light in this impressive place?

How to get to the Temple of the Sun and Moon?

The Temple of the Sun and the Moon are located just 6 kilometers southeast of Trujillo and are part of what is known as the Moche Route. You can easily reach this place from the city center by taking a taxi or a bus in the Grau oval. If you go on your own to the Temple of the Sun and the Moon, we recommend you stop to eat at the restaurants that you find on the road just before arriving at the complex. Its dishes have what a tourist always looks for: they are good, pretty and cheap (as well as hearty). For those who want a more complete experience, at Denomades we offer a tour to the Temple of the Sun and the Moon, in which we will accompany you on a historical tour of these two pyramids and we will tell you everything that is known so far about each one of them. they.

Prices and schedules of the Temple of the Sun and the Moon

Hours: The Temple of the Sun and the Moon are open from Monday to Sunday from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon.
Prices: The price of the tickets is S/ 10 (around 3 dollars), with a discount for university students and Peruvian seniors, as well as for children.
Museum: In addition, in this place you will find a museum that we recommend you visit after your visit to the archaeological complex. The entrance price to the museum is S/ 5 (1.5 dollars).

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