The Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum in nearby Lambayeque is the finest pre-Columbian archaeology museum in Peru and rivals anything in Lima. The building itself is striking — a modern stepped pyramid designed to echo the Moche temple mounds that the treasures came from. Inside, the exhibits are organised as a descent into the burial chambers: you enter at the top and work your way down, arriving at the recreated royal tomb with its gold and copper treasures at ground level.
The centrepiece is the burial of the Lord of Sipán (El Señor de Sipán), excavated at Huaca Rajada in 1987 — the first unlooted royal tomb found in the Americas. The funerary objects include an extraordinary gold backflap, a golden warrior figure, massive ear ornaments in gold and turquoise, and a necklace of gold and silver peanuts symbolising his dual divine and earthly role. Subsequent excavations found further royal burials at the same site; the museum holds all of them.
The museum is 13 km north of Chiclayo in Lambayeque; minibuses run frequently from the main bus stops near the Mercado Modelo. Allow at least two hours.