Maras solar salterns

The Maras solar salterns are a hillside complex of shallow evaporation ponds in the Sacred Valley of the Department of Cusco, Peru, used for traditional salt production since pre-Inca times.

A close-up experience of thousands of shallow, terraced salt pans fed by a natural saline spring is the main attraction; the ponds are arranged in dense rows across a steep slope and vary in size and color depending on salinity and evaporation. Photographers and cultural-tour visitors often study the hand-built channels and the repeating geometric patterns formed by the pools. Small stalls near the road sell locally harvested salt and simple refreshments.

The complex was developed and expanded before the Inca period and has been maintained through successive generations of local families; traditional extraction methods remain in use rather than industrial processing. Ownership and management are local and communal, with the salterns serving both as a working production site and a cultural landscape.

The site sits above the village of Maras in the Sacred Valley of the Andes, in the Department of Cusco, Peru, near the archaeological site of Moray and accessible by road from the town of Maras and the city of Cusco.

• Scale and use: Around 3,000 shallow, hand-maintained ponds form the terraced complex; salt is still harvested today by local families using traditional methods.
• Best time and access: Best light for photographs is in the late afternoon when the low sun accentuates the terraces and pools; the site is accessed from the village of Maras, often combined with visits to nearby Moray.

What to See #

• Salt pans (pools): A terraced site of evaporation ponds fed by a natural saline spring, arranged on a steep Andean hillside with channels that distribute the brine to individual pans.
• Viewing area and market: A short network of footpaths and a roadside viewing area that allow panoramic views of the terraced ponds and the valley below; parking and a small market area for locally produced salt sit near the road.