Zaña, the ghost town

Many call Zaña, like the ghost town. But although it has a lot of people who live there, a few blocks from the Plaza de Armas are the ruins of the ancient city.

The "ghost town" dates from 1720. Today is a town where around 1,000 people, located 40 miles south of Chiclayo. In the seventeenth century, however, Zaña was the most important city on the north coast, even ahead of Trujillo.

It was not just a center for trade, but also for agriculture, and large numbers of African slaves were brought to the basin of the river to work the land. Zaña had estates, mansions, churches and huge to rival anything in Lima.

But then the pirates came. In 1686, English pirates were attracted by stories of wealth Zaña, and sacked the city. This scared off some of the wealthier residents, but others were on the reconstruction and improvement of the city. At March 15, 1720.

That day, the river Zaña, fueled by El Niño rains, overflowed and destroyed the city. The colonial church officials blamed the slaves, whom they accused of bringing the wrath of God with dancing and traditional religious practices. The Spanish colonists went to Trujillo and Lambayeque, while many of the slaves and mestizos were left to rebuild the "ghost town".

Today, Zaña looks like a lot of small towns in the coastal desert of Peru, with the exception of the massive ruins of the seventeenth century churches popping out of the blocks from a dusty city. The grandest of these are the ruins of the convent of San Agustin.

The convent was started in 1586, mass, and was built in Gothic style. Visitors can still see much of the ship, the frescoes on the walls, the place where they held the confession, and massive columns supporting the cloisters of the convent.

There are small ruins as well, with a maximum of sand on the outskirts of the city: San Francisco, La Merced and Matrix. Each has a unique history and a guide arranged at the entrance to St. Augustine will be happy to explain.

Zaña is in ruins, however, is a city with a pulse that still beats, and the pulse is clearly an Afro-Peruvian rhythm. As a center of slavery, Zaña had a large population of Africa, and today, despite the arrival of Chinese workers and migrants from the highlands, there is still a large African-American population.

This is reflected in the small town of Afro-Peruvian Museum, the only of its kind in the country. The museum tells the history of slavery, but also the living-African cultures in Latin America today. Of particular interest is a room dedicated to musical instruments of the black population in Latin America.

Zaña has also preserved its culinary heritage. The star dish is rice with pork, a local twist on classic rice and duck Lambayeque, which replaces the duck roast pork. The region also has adapted many Chinese dishes, due to the influx of Chinese workers in the late nineteenth century. Zaña also enjoys local fame for its sweets. You can buy in a store across the street from St. Augustine, the octogenarian owner crafting.

Zaña is a few miles from the Panamerican Highway south of Chiclayo. The forward is by Mocupe. If visiting by public transport, there are cars that leave from the station in Chiclayo Epsel throughout the day and takes about 90 minutes to reach the village.