Aqueductos de Cantalloc

Nazca & Around


About 4km southeast of town are the 30-plus underground Cantalloc Aqueducts, many of which are still in working order and are essential in irrigating the surrounding fields. The impressive series of stone and wood channels and spiraling access ways were built by the Nazca between AD 200 and 900 and are considered one of the finest examples of pre-Hispanic engineering. Locals say the water here is still good to drink.

Though once possible to enter the aqueducts through the ventanas (windows), which local people use to clean the aqueducts each year, it's no longer permitted to go all the way in; instead, you can take note of the Nazca’s exceptional stonework from the outside.

It’s possible, but not necessarily safe, to walk to the aqueducts; at least, don’t carry any valuables. Alternatively you can hire a taxi to take you there for S4 to S5. To get a return taxi you will probably have to walk out a few minutes to the Cooperativa Cantayo.

Admission is via the Boleto Turistica which also covers entry to the nearby Paredones ruins and El Telar, a geoglyph found in the town of Buena Fe. Tours from Nazca take 2½ hours, cost from S30 per person and may be combined with visits to touristy gold and ceramics workshops.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Nazca & Around attractions

1. Museo Didáctico Antonini

1.19 MILES

On the east side of town, this excellent archaeological museum has an aqueduct running through the back garden, as well as interesting reproductions of…

2. Paredones Ruins

1.85 MILES

The Paredones ruins, 2km southeast of town via Arica over the river, are not very well preserved (primarily because they were constructed from adobe…

3. Nazca Planetarium

1.98 MILES

This small planetarium is in the DM Nazca Hotel and offers scripted evening lectures on the Lines with graphical displays on a domed projection screen…

4. Chauchilla Cemetery

10.94 MILES

The most popular excursion from Nazca, this cemetery, 28km south of Nazca, will satisfy any urges you have to see ancient bones, skulls and mummies…

5. Mirador

12.08 MILES

You’ll get only a sketchy idea of the Lines at this lookout on the Panamericana Sur 20km north of Nazca, which has an oblique view of three figures: the…

6. Cahuachi

14.37 MILES

A dirt road travels 25km west from Nazca to Cahuachi, the most important known Nazca center, which is still undergoing excavation. It consists of several…

7. Museo Maria Reiche

16.28 MILES

When Maria Reiche, the German mathematician and long-term researcher of the Nazca Lines, died in 1998, her house, which stands 5km north of the mirador …

8. Nazca Lines

16.8 MILES

Spread over 500 sq km (310 sq mi) of arid, rock-strewn plain in the Pampa Colorada (Red Plain), the Nazca Lines are one of the world's great…