The story of a place
A desert-valley city that changes the timescale of Andean urban history.
Caral's platforms and sunken circular spaces sit within a wider valley landscape rather than a dense modern town. The site asks visitors to imagine forms of social organisation far earlier than the familiar Inca story.
Its visual impact grows with explanation. Plans, archaeological interpretation and the surrounding agricultural context make the apparently spare structures much more meaningful.
The essential experience
Make time for this.
Take an authorised guided visit that explains how the principal spaces relate to one another.
Explore the highlights
Look a little closer.
Caral’s monumental platforms stand in a desert valley with an exceptionally early urban history.
Circular courts
Notice their relationship to raised platforms.
Valley setting
Consider water and cultivation beyond the desert surface.
Construction layers
Look for evidence of repeated building activity.
For the curious reader
History, landscape
and context.
The Sacred City of Caral-Supe, or simply Caral, is an archaeological site in Peru where the remains of the main city of the Caral civilisation are found. It is located in the Supe District of Peru, near the current town of Caral, 182 kilometres (113 mi) north of Lima, 23 kilometres (14 mi) from the coast and 350 metres above sea level. It is attributed an antiquity of 5,000 years and it is considered the oldest city in the Americas and one of the oldest in the world. Caral was inhabited from around 2600 BC to 2000 BC, and the site includes an area of more than 60 hectares (150 acres).
Background reading: an abridged extract from Caral, by Wikipedia contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and shortened for this guide. Retrieved 22 September 2026. Source revision ↗.
Turn curiosity into a visit
Plan your visit.
- Physical demands
- Exposed desert walking with little shade.
- The practical detail
- Bring enough water and allow time for interpretation; the site's importance is not immediately obvious from a photograph.
Before you set off.
Your ticks stay in this browser.Through the seasons
A place in the world
Find your bearings.
Select the pin to open a detailed map. Use Closer look to see the surrounding region. Drag to move a zoomed map.
Map: Natural EarthA closer view.
Load the local map to explore the surrounding area. Map tiles require an internet connection.
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A sense of place
In pictures.
Keep looking.
10 photographs, with full-size views and individual credits.
Go a little further
Sources & further reading.
The UNESCO link names the specific inscribed property. A broad entry in this project can extend beyond that property’s boundaries.
