Nazca & Around

A desert full of mysteries: the Nazca Lines and beyond

The giant animal figures and hundreds of razor-straight lines etched into the sun-baked Pampa Colorada plain near the Peruvian desert town of Nazca constitute one of humankind’s enduring mysteries. Who created them? For what purpose? It's the stuff of endless fascination. But the Nazca area has much more to offer: the enigmatic glimpses of a lost civilisation in the form of the Cahuachi pyramids; the Palpa Lines; an ancient necropolis; aqueducts; Inca ruins; the world’s largest sand dune; and a highland vicuña sanctuary.

The Nazca Lines Tree and Hands geoglyphs. Image by Madeleine Deaton / CC BY 2.0