Located 33 km north of the city of Chiclayo, the Archaeological Complex of Tucume, is one of the most important pre-Hispanic monuments of the north coast of Peru, given its magnitude and extent of approximately 220 hectares architected space, housing 26 buildings of monumental structures associated with lower rank (squares, mounds, patios, canal systems, walls, etc.) that reflect a system of planned growth and a complex social structure. The largest pyramid is 450 m long, 100 m wide and 40 m high, since, unlike the Egyptian pyramids, American pyramids form large platforms on which the temples are located.
It is believed that the site was occupied first by the Lambayeque culture, between 1000 and 1370 AD, then by the Chimu, between 1370 and 1470, and finally by the Incas, between 1470 and 1532, when the Spanish arrived. By 1547, the site was abandoned. The foundation of the city between 1000 and 1100 coincides with the fall of Batan Grande, on the banks of Chancay river, which was burned and abandoned at that time. The legend says that the place was founded by Naymlap, a mythical hero who came from the sea and _ built the city with the help of the peasants _ around Cerro La Raya, a rocky outcrop that stands in the middle of the plain. The legend was told by Cabello de Balboa in 1586, the grandson of Naymlap, founder of the Lambayeque royal dynasty. The famous explorer Thor Heyerdahl was who, after visiting the city, led to the initiation of a research project that culminated in the creation of a museum in Tucume, which houses the most important remains found in the ruins.
Scientific research can determine that the pyramids were palaces inhabited residential aristocratic elite dedicated mainly to agriculture, making the valley of La Leche in the most complex hydraulic of the coast.