Chachapoyas culture

This article is about the pre-Columbian Chachapoyas civilization. For the contemporary city, please see Chachapoyas, Peru

The Chachapoyas, Warriors of the Clouds, were an Andean people. The Incas conquered their civilization.

Since the Incas and the Spanish conquistadors wrote the principal sources on the Chachapoyas, modern knowledge of the Chachapoyas remains scarce. The Chachapoyas civilization was located in the northern regions of the Andes in present-day Peru. The contemporary Peruvian city of Chachapoyas derives its name from this ancient culture. Vestiges of the Chachapoyas civilization can be found in the Amazonas Region.

The Chachapoyas people built the great fortress of Kuélap, with four hundred buildings and massive exterior stone walls, to defend against the Huari around 800 C.E.. Referred to as the 'Machu Picchu of the north,' Kuélap receives few visitors due to its remote location.