The Spanish missionaries who established a small community in Peru's far northern desert in the 1500s apparently knew what they were doing. Sitting at the crossroads of trade routes connecting the coast with the highlands and rainforest, Chiclayo has flourished as a commercial hub ever since. Dubbed "The Capital of Friendship", this easygoing city is one of Peru's most welcoming and offers visitors delicious regional cuisine as well as an entrancing witch doctors' market. The Moche, Chimú and Lambayeque people once built great cities in the area and scores of their temples, tombs and pyramids still remain. Sipán and Túcume are among the most famous, and treasures unearthed in such sites can now be viewed at Lambayeque and Ferreñafe's excellent museums nearby.