29.10.08 - 10:06 -
King Juan Carlos (c) and Queen Sofía watch a performance by Peruvian dancers during their visit in the northern city of Trujillo. REUTERS / Pilar Olivares
The King and Queen of Spain wrapped up their official visit to Peru on Tuesday with a visit to Precolumbian archeological ruins.
Accompanied by Peruvian President Alan García and first lady Pilar Nores, King Juan Carlos - on his third state visit to Peru - and Queen Sofía visited the archeological sites of Chan Chan and Huaca de la Luna, where they were able to admire firsthand the laborious restoration work being done.
Chan Chan, the ancient capital of the Chimu empire, built around the year 1300 and covering 28 square kilometers (10.8 square miles), was the largest Precolumbian city in the Americas and the largest built of adobe, a situation that has forced Peru to undertake continuous preservation work in the face of ongoing erosion due to the weather.
Indians dressed as ancient inhabitants of Chan Chan waited for the royal couple inside the Nik-An walled site, where Juan Carlos and Sofia crossed the immense ceremonial plaza to the so-called Audience Hall, consisting of a series of rooms for worship and the presentation of offerings.
On its thick adobe walls, built upon stones and mud, the royals could examine in more detail the many friezes decorated with the figures of birds, geometrical designs and marine motifs, including fish and fishing nets.
Returning to Trujillo, Juan Carlos and Sofia visited the Plaza de Armas of the well-preserved colonial city founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1530 in homage to his hometown and celebrated for being the first Peruvian city to become independent from Spain.
Before lunching with García and his wife in the Gerardo Chávez Contemporary Art Museum, the Spanish royals visited the nearby Huaca de la Luna, a pyramid-shaped temple erected some 1,500 years ago by the Mochica culture, which became the power center of the pre-Incan empire.
Juan Carlos and García presided here Monday over the signing of a Strategic Association Plan that will favor the integration of Peruvian immigrants into the Spanish workforce and will boost Peru's hopes of signing a free trade pact with the European Union.
On the first day of their visit, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía were received at the Plaza de Armas in Lima by García and the first lady before their meeting at the presidential palace.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos and Peruvian counterpart José Antonio García Belaunde signed the agreement that makes Peru one of Spain's six strategic allies in Latin America.
Spain offered direct support to Peru's ambition to negotiate a separate free trade agreement with the EU, not involving other countries of the Andean Community of Nations, if it turns out that a group negotiation is not feasible.
On Monday, after visiting the photography exhibition illustrating the ties between Spain and Peru organized by Agencia Efe in a busy pedestrian street beside the presidential palace, the monarchs went to the Spanish Center in Lima to greet around 1,000 invited representatives of the 15,000-strong Spanish expatriate community.
On Tuesday evening, Juan Carlos and Sofia will offered a reception in honor of their hosts at the residence of the Spanish Embassy in Lima and on Wednesday they will travel to San Salvador to participate in the 18th Iberoamerican Summit.
