According to an Associated Press story: The church outside the
northern coastal city of Piura was built in 1534 but its mud
walls deteriorated over time as Spanish conquistadors abandoned
the area, said archaeologist Cesar Astuhuaman of Piura
University. Historical documents discovered in an archive in
Sevilla, Spain, helped Peruvian and Spanish academics discover
the ruins, whose rectangular stone perimeter remains intact
along with an altar, he said in a phone interview Friday. The
church was part of the first settlement established in Peru,
which would become the seat of Spanish colonial power, by
adventurers led by Francisco Pizarro. Read more of the story
here.