​THE WARI EMPIRE

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• 'Wari' or Huari was an Andean civilization that flourished in the center of the Andes approximately from the seventh century to the thirteenth century. C., arriving to expand until the present Peruvian departments of Lambayeque by the north, Moquegua by the south and until the forest of the department of the Cuzco by the east.

• The largest city associated with this culture is Wari, which is located about 15 kilometers northwest of the current city of Ayacucho.

• This city was the center of an empire that covered most of the sierra and the coast of present-day Peru.

• It is, along with the Inca Empire, one of only two cultures considered "imperial" in the southern hemisphere.

• The presence of the God of the Rods in the wari broken vessels, which resembles a divinity that appears engraved in the "Gate of the Sun" of Tiwanaku, would indicate Tiwanaku cultural influence.

• The city of Wari was the capital of the state of the same name.

• It is located about 15 km from the current city of Ayacucho.

• The urban core of Wari reached about 2000 hectares of which remain as archaeological vestiges several alleys with walled temples, hidden courtyards, royal tombs and multi-storey residential buildings that are currently the archaeological complex of Wari.

• Most of the buildings were covered in white plaster, making the city glow with the sun of the mountains.

• As its population grew (some 70,000 inhabitants) it also grew in importance as the seat of political power.

• The city was an administrative center with political and religious functions.

• According to archaeological evidence, the wari culture declined in importance around 1000 AD. C.

• Not knowing for sure how and why the city was finally abandoned.