Chan Chan (Peru)

Chan Chan, the sprawling adobe capital of the Chimú Empire (900-1470 CE), was the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas before the Inca conquest. This UNESCO World Heritage Site's massive earthen walls, intricate friezes, and labyrinthine citadels showcase an advanced civilization's hydraulic engineering and artistic sophistication. The city's 20-square-kilometer complex featured reservoirs, temples, and residential compounds, all constructed without mortar. Though the Spanish looted its gold and El Niño rains threaten its fragile remains, Chan Chan's surviving architecture testifies to the Chimú's remarkable urban planning and resistance to seismic activity in Peru's arid coastal desert.