Paracas Candelabra
Candelabro de Paracas
Interesting facts
- The figure was made by scraping away the darker surface layer of the slope to expose the paler sand beneath, so it reads as a light drawing on dark ground.
- The geoglyph itself has never been directly dated; its usual age rests only on Paracas-style pottery found nearby.
- It lies roughly 190 kilometres northwest of the Nazca lines, and its relationship to those better-known geoglyphs remains unproven.
- According to local legend, the trident is the lightning rod of the creator god Viracocha.
- Maria Reiche is said to have spent about six months in the 1950s measuring the figure and analysing the direction in which it points.
- One fringe theory, proposed by the author Frank Joseph, reads the shape as a jimsonweed plant and the figure as a navigation marker for long-distance voyagers.
- Under Peruvian law, damaging an archaeological monument such as the Candelabra can bring a prison sentence of three to six years.
Why it is worth it
The Paracas Candelabra is a colossal figure drawn on the sandy northern slope of the Paracas Peninsula, facing Pisco Bay on the southern coast of Peru. It looks like a three-branched candlestick, or a trident, which is why it also goes by the names El Candelabro, Tridente and Tres Cruces. The design is about 170–180 metres tall and 60 metres wide, and it is cut some 60 centimetres into the ground, and despite the strong winds of this coast it has never been erased. From the sea it can be seen from roughly 20 km away, while from the land above it is surprisingly hard to make out.
Who made it, and why, is still debated. Pottery found close by has been dated to around 200 BC, the time of the Paracas culture, and Maria Reiche, the great researcher of the Nazca lines, studied the figure in the 1950s and linked it to the great geoglyphs further south. Stones laid around its edges may be later additions. Other explanations have been offered too: some have read it as the Southern Cross and its neighbouring stars, a sign for navigators, and local tradition has attached pirates and even the independence hero José de San Martín to it, though none of these stories has any firm footing.
In 2016 Peru declared the Candelabra part of the national heritage, and the law now punishes damage to it with prison. That protection matters, because the figure is fragile despite its size: seen from a boat rocking on the swell, the lines on the slope feel like a message whose sender has long gone, which is precisely its power.
Getting there
The Candelabra lies on the Paracas Peninsula, about 14.5 km from Pisco. It is seen from the water: boat tours to the Ballestas Islands leave from El Chaco pier in the resort of Paracas and stop in front of the geoglyph on the way. Paracas is about four hours by bus from Lima, whose Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM) is about 215 km away; Maria Reiche Neuman Airport at Nazca (NZC) is about 187 km away.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Paracas Candelabra, also called the Candelabra of the Andes, El Candelabro, Tridente (Trident) or Tres cruces, is a well-known prehistoric geoglyph found on the northern face of the Paracas Peninsula at Pisco Bay in Peru. Pottery found nearby has been radio carbon dated to 200 BCE, the time of the Paracas culture. The design is cut 60 cm (2 ft) into the soil, with stones possibly from a later date placed around it. The figure is 170 m (560 ft) tall and 60 m (200 ft) wide, large enough to be seen 19 km (12 mi) at sea.
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