Fodor's Expert Review El Santuario de Huanchaco

Although people come to Huanchaco for the beach, one of Peru's oldest churches, El Santuario de Huanchaco, on a hill overlooking the village, is a nice side trip. The sanctuary was built on a Chimú ruin around 1540. In the second half of the 16th century, a small box containing the image of Nuestra Señora del Socorro (Our Lady of Mercy) floated in on the tide and was discovered by locals. The image, which is kept in the sanctuary, has been an object of local veneration ever since.