An Inca administrative complex on the outskirts of Nazca town, overlooking the Aja River valley. The Paredones — meaning "big walls" — are the remains of a waystation and storage facility built by the Inca after they absorbed the Nazca region in the fifteenth century. The trapezoidal doorways, niched walls, and terraced construction are unmistakably Inca in style.
The site is often overlooked by visitors focused entirely on the geoglyphs, but it gives a different and equally important layer of Nazca history. The Inca reorganised the local economy around the cultivation of cotton and maize, and the Paredones served as the logistical centre for that operation. The ruins are about 2 km from the town centre and accessible on foot or by mototaxi.