"Chan Chan Archaeological Site was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1986. The property’s Statement of Outstanding Universal Value, adopted in 2011, describes it as an “absolute masterpiece of town planning” that “uniquely integrates the symbolic and sacred architecture with technological knowledge and the adaptation to the native environment”. Over 100,000 people visit the site every year to gain a better understanding of the lives of those who built one of the most powerful empires in pre-Columbian America.  
At the time of the property’s inscription, the World Heritage Committee decided to simultaneously inscribe it on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to the rapid deterioration of the archaeological site’s state of conservation, Resulting from its vulnerability to climatic conditions. The adobe metropolis of Chan Chan was once the capital city of the Chimú civilization which flourished on the northern coast of Peru between the 10th and 15th centuries. Stretching over twenty square kilometers, Chan Chan was once the largest pre-Columbian city in South America. The Chimú transformed the landscape of the area with thousands of structures, adobe walls etched with images of fish and seabirds and intricately shaped geometrical designs. The city planning reflects a strict political and social hierarchy, marked by the city's division into nine
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