STILL BEING EXCAVATED
Kuélap's 2022 Wall Collapse and Ongoing Excavation
Why part of Kuélap's wall came down in 2022, what conservation work is underway now, and what a 2025 tomb discovery revealed about its long history.
See Kuélap tours on GetYourGuide ↗A working excavation site, not a finished ruin
It's easy to assume a stone citadel this old is a settled, unchanging subject, but Kuélap is still an active archaeological site: an interdisciplinary research program has documented work across roughly 16 areas and more than 24,000 square metres of the walled city, with decades of investigation led by Peruvian archaeologist Alfredo Narváez and others continuing to refine basic questions — including when construction began and what the site's outer wall was really used for. New finds still surface regularly enough that any single guide to Kuélap, including this one, is describing a moving picture rather than a closed case.
Why the walls became unstable: a decade of warning signs
Kuélap's structural problems didn't appear overnight — research into the site's condition has identified rainwater infiltration into the porous limestone walls as the single largest risk factor, worsened by bedrock slopes that channel moisture toward vulnerable sections, by earlier repair work that inadvertently trapped water inside walls, and by root pressure from cloud forest vegetation growing directly into the masonry. Instability had been observed and reported since 2013, nearly a decade before the most serious collapse, making April 2022 the culmination of a known, monitored risk rather than a sudden surprise.
April 2022: what actually collapsed
During an unusually heavy rainy season, a section of Kuélap's southern perimeter wall gave way on 10–11 April 2022 — reported at roughly 15 metres long, 12 metres high and 5 metres deep. Peru's Ministry of Culture declared an emergency and coordinated a response with the national civil defence institute and several other government bodies, carrying out stabilisation work before the site reopened to visitors. It remains one of the clearest reminders that Kuélap's walls, however monumental, are five-hundred-plus-year-old dry-laid stone under constant pressure from one of Peru's wettest regions.
The conservation program now underway
Peru's Ministry of Culture has reportedly committed to a multi-year conservation program for Kuélap, targeting dozens of vulnerable areas across the site for wall repair, improved drainage and continued structural monitoring — a scale of ongoing investment that reflects how seriously the 2022 collapse was taken rather than a one-off patch job. For visitors, the practical upshot is that some sections or routes inside Kuélap may occasionally be restricted while conservation work is active, one more reason to confirm current access with your tour operator close to your travel date rather than assuming the site you read about is exactly the site you'll walk through.
A 2025 tomb find that reframes part of the story
In May 2025, Peru's Ministry of Culture announced the discovery of a chulpa-style funerary structure in Kuélap's northern sector, containing the remains of four adults and one infant alongside ceremonial offerings — a carved bone ornament depicting a stylised face wearing a Chachapoya-style headdress, a phytomorphic ritual vessel in the Regional Inca style, a polished stone axe, an engraved slate pendant and a fragment of Spondylus shell traded up from the Pacific coast. Dated to the Late Horizon (roughly 1470–1532 AD), during Inca rule of the region, the find suggests Chachapoya funerary and ritual practice continued at Kuélap well after the Inca conquest, rather than simply disappearing under it.
Why Kuélap isn't a full UNESCO World Heritage Site — yet
Despite its scale, Kuélap doesn't currently hold full UNESCO World Heritage status; it sits on Peru's UNESCO tentative list under the wider heading "Chachapoyas sites of the Utcubamba Valley" — a formal step that signals a country's intention to nominate a site, not the inscription itself. Tentative listing is common for major sites still building the conservation infrastructure, research documentation and management plans UNESCO expects, and the current stabilisation and excavation work is arguably part of that longer process, rather than a sign of neglect or abandonment by Peruvian authorities.