Huanchaco

Huanchaco is a seaside resort town in Trujillo Province on the coast of the La Libertad Region of northern Peru, known for its surf breaks, its totora-reed fishing craft called caballitos de totora and its ceviche. It lies near the ruins of Chan Chan and belongs to the tourist circuit called the Moche Route, and in 2012 the Save The Waves Coalition approved it as a World Surfing Reserve. In Chimú times, from 800 to 1400, it was the port of Chan Chan, and it was the main port of the Moche period too; Inca Garcilaso de la Vega described it as the Incas preferred port. The Spanish town was founded on 1 January 1535 by the Franciscan friar Alonso of Escarcena and Juan de Barbaran. It served as the port of Trujillo until the port closed in 1870, and the pier was later rebuilt to export sugar from the Chicama valley. Nearby Huanchaquito-Las Llamas is the site of a Chimú sacrifice of more than 140 children and 200 llamas.