Not everybody knows that there is a magnificent lost pyramid city in the heart of Peru, a city that dates back to the same time at the Giza pyramids of Egypt. Yes, the magnificent ancient city of Caral dates back to 2,627 BC and is known as the Mother City of South America by some archaeologists. For over a century archaeologists were searching for such a mother city and this large settlement, located 120 miles north of Lima, is one of the most ancient of the Americas, home of the Norte Chico civilisation. It was declared a UNESCO world heritage site back in 2009. It was occupied between the 26th and 20th centuries BC and was described by excavators as the oldest urban centre in the Americas, but since its discovery in 1948, other ancient sites such as Bandurria in Peru have challenged this title. Astonishingly, it was found in pristine condition and nothing had been built over it since the city was deserted. It would have been home to more than 3,000 people, with an elaborate complex of temples, an amphitheatre and ordinary houses covering 370 acres of land. There are plazas and residential buildings, and of course pyramids.