Twenty kilometers north from the town of Nazca are the Nazca Lines. Enormous geometric designs and figures of various animals run for several kilometers across the desert. The lines, best viewed from the air were produced by the Nazca culture. They began around 400 B.C and continued to create shapes for another thousand years or so.
A host of people has studied the lines to interpreter their significance including Maria Reiche, a German mathematician who spent the greater part of her life doing research in Nazca. Their true meaning remains a mystery to this day. Main Attractions Chauchilla: The Inca cemetery of Chauchilla lies 30 km. south of Nazca. Bones are scattered all over this desert graveyard Nazca Lines: Located in the arid Peruvian coastal plain, some 400 km south of Lima, the geoglyphs of Nazca and the Pampas of Jumana cover about 450 square km. These lines, which were drawn between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D., are among the most impenetrable enigmas of archaeology by virtue of their quantity, nature and size, as well as their continuity. Some of the geoglyphs depict living creatures, plants or imaginary figures, as well as geometric figures several kilometers long. They are believed to have had ritual functions connected with astronomy.
Infrastructure Access Routes
Nazca is connected by the Pan american highway with Lima (7 hours) and Arequipa (11 hours).
Accommodation
In Ica, Pisco and Nazca there are no 5 star hotels, only premium and tourist class. In Ica the best hotel is Las Dunas. In Pisco this is Hotel Paracas and in Nazca this is the new hotel Cantayo. Tourist Class hotels are abundant but fairly basic When to go
Nazca can be visited all year round. How long
We recommend spending 1 day here.
