Pachacamac Temple of the Sun

12.2575°S, 76.9015°W.

The Temple of the Sun at Pachacamac in the Lurín Valley south of modern Lima, Peru — the Inca-period pyramid built between 1450 and 1533 CE atop one of the most important pilgrimage sites of the central Andes. Original base 200 by 100 metres; original height 30 metres on five terraces, faced with the polychrome painted plaster characteristic of Inca elite construction. The Pachacamac sanctuary itself is far older than the Inca pyramid: continuous religious activity at the site is documented from approximately 200 CE through the Spanish conquest, with successive temples built by the Lima, Wari, Ychsma, and finally Inca cultures. Pachacamac was the principal oracle of the central Peruvian coast — pilgrims travelled from across the Andes to consult the cult statue and seek the deity's prophecies. Hernando Pizarro looted and destroyed the cult statue in 1533, three months after the capture of Atahualpa. Excavated continuously since 1896.

An Inca pyramid built atop a 1,300-year-old pilgrimage site, in a sanctuary whose oracular cult statue was personally destroyed by the brother of the conquistador who captured the Inca emperor.