Expedition Finds Huge Ancient City in Peru Jungle

An American explorer who has spent more than a quarter of a century exploring South America says he may have made his greatest discovery--a huge stone city that may be one of the largest pre-Columbian ruins ever found.

Gene Savoy, 58, returned last week from a 60-day expedition into the Amazonian jungle between Peru’s Maranon and Utcubamba rivers 400 miles northeast of Lima. He said he discovered an ancient city stretching for about 50 miles and covering an area of 120 square miles.

He and his team of 20 machete-wielding explorers counted about 24,000 structures in the city, he said, adding, “the magnitude of the ruins makes this undoubtedly the largest pre-Columbian metropolis in all of the Americas.”

Savoy said many of the buildings were circular, built on platforms. Others measured up to 140 feet in length. Some resembled terraced pyramids the size of 15-story buildings. The city, which he named “Gran Vilaya” after a nearby river valley, is of sophisticated construction and included doorways, windows and staircases.

Although he has not yet conducted scientific tests, Savoy believes the city was built around A.D. 800 to 1,000 by the Chachapoyas culture, a pre-Incan tribe.