The world's deepest canyon — 3,270m from rim to river, twice the depth of the Grand Canyon, Andean condors soaring at eye level at Cruz del Condor, and the Collagua and Cabana terraced cultures above the abyss
The Colca Canyon lies 160km northwest of Arequipa in the Caylloma Province of Peru — the deepest canyon in the world (3,270m from rim at Cruz del Condor to the Colca River at the canyon bottom, vs. the Grand Canyon's 1,857m), though the title is contested with the adjacent Cotahuasi Canyon (3,354m — also in Arequipa region, less accessible). The canyon is 100km long, averaging 3km wide at the rim; the Colca River runs along the canyon floor, fed by the snowmelt of the Mismi glacier (one of the most remote headwaters of the Amazon basin, 160km east). The canyon walls are terraced — the pre-Inc…
The Colca Valley has been inhabited for approximately 9,000 years (pre-ceramic sites in the canyon sides). The Collagua and Cabana peoples (pre-Inca cultures of the valley, distinguished by their practice of cranial deformation — the Collagua elongated their skulls vertically, the Cabana flattened them horizontally, producing the distinct skull shapes visible in the mummies found in the canyon's burial chullpas) built the terracing system that defines the canyon walls. The Inca empire incorporated the Colca Valley in the 15th century; the Spanish colonial administration established the reducc…