Huanchaco

Huanchaco
From top and left to right: View of Huanchaco beach, Dish of cebiche, Huanchaco pier, Saveguard in Caballito de Totora, Tumi: Chimu work, Chan Chan: capital Chimu, Park in Huanchaco, Night view of the pier, Swamps of Huanchaco, Navegator Chimu in a Caballito de Totora, Surfers in Huanchaco, Wall in Chan Chan
Huanchaco
Coordinates: 7°42.0′S 79°26.0′W / 7.7000°S 79.4333°W / -7.7000; -79.4333Coordinates: 7°42.0′S 79°26.0′W / 7.7000°S 79.4333°W / -7.7000; -79.4333
Country	Peru
Region	La Libertad Region
Province	Trujillo
District	Huanchaco
foundation	Mochica in Pre-Columbian era times Spanish: January 1, 1535 by fray Alonso de Escarcena and Juan de Barbaran.
Government
• Mayor	Fernando Bazan Pinillos
Elevation	13 m (43 ft)
Population (2005)
• Urban	38,134
• Demonym	Huanchaquino(a) Huanchaqueño(a)
Time zone	PET (UTC-5)
Website	Municipality of Huanchaco

Huanchaco is a beachside town of Mochica origin and a popular vacation spot. It is the most visited beach of Trujillo in Peru. Situated 12 km northwest of the city in a bay, on a terrace at the foot of Campana mountain, Huanchaco is notable for its surf breaks and its caballitos de totora, and its ceviche. Huanchaco is near the ruin of Chan Chan. Huanchaco was approved as a World Surfing Reserve by the organization Save The Waves Coalition in 2012 This historic town is part of the tourist circuit called the "Moche Route" or "Ruta Moche". Today it is still a beautiful beach that, despite its modernity, still retains its old charm.

Huanchaco's original population were indigenous fishermen, who worshipped the moon and a golden fish called Huaca Taska

Some accounts suggest the name "Huanchaco" may originate from "Gua-Kocha, a Quechua word meaning "beautiful lake". It was the main port Moche, Chimú and Inca eras, and was described by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega as the preferred port of the Incas.

In the Chimú culture 800 A.C. to 1400 A.C. Huanchaco was the port for Chan Chan, which was established 4 km away

Following the Spanish conquest of 1534, the Spanish town was founded as "Huanchaco" on January 1, 1535 by the Franciscan friar Alonso of Escarcena and Juan de Barbaran.

In the colonial era, Huanchaco continued to be the main port of Trujillo city, but the port closed in 1870. Two decades later Victor Larco Herrera rebuilt the pier exclusively for exporting sugar from businesses in neighboring Chicama valley, one of the most important areas of sugar production in the country.

According to Andrés Tinoco Rondan, an academic researcher at Ricardo Palma University, Huanchaco is the birthplace of ceviche. Oral histories suggest ceviche was prepared with lemons from Simbal (yunga village nearby), with chilli from the Moche River valley and seaweed extracted from the sea.