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Among charted ruins in the Utcubamba Valley are those of the archaic metropolis of Purunllacta . This can be reached fairly easily by taking the daily bus from Grau in Chachapoyas to Pipos on the Mendoza road. Get off here and walk to the village of Cheto , from where it's a short climb to the ruined city itself. The return trip is possible the same day, though it's more enjoyable to camp at the site. Purunllacta was one of the seven major cities of the Chachapoyas culture - and probably the capital - before all of them were conquered by the Inca Tupac Yupanqui in the 1470s. The site consists of numerous groups of buildings scattered around the hilltops, all interconnected by ancient roads and each one surrounded by elegant agricultural terraces. At the centre of the ruined city you can clearly make out rectangular stone buildings, plazas, stairways and platforms. The most striking are two storeys high, and made of carved limestone blocks. The explorer Gene Savoy estimated that the entire complex covered about 150 square kilometres - and even if the truth amounts to only a third of this calculation, it is an astonishing accomplishment.
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