Huayuri

Huayuri, the "Lost City," is a pre-Columbian settlement in Santa Cruz District, Palpa Province, Ica Region, Peru, at 500 m elevation about 80 km from the Pacific. Flourishing from 1150 to 1450 CE during the Late Intermediate Period, it was built by the Poroma ethnic group and housed up to 5,000 people. The ruins extend 500 m along a ravine covering 7 hectares, with stone houses suggesting highland origins rather than the coastal adobe tradition. A sophisticated rainfall harvesting system channeled water through stone-lined cisterns. The city was likely abandoned due to increasing aridity, Inca expansion, or European epidemics.