MAIN CITIES IN PERU

LIMA

With an area of 1285,216 km2 and a population of 26 million (1997), Peru is the third largest and the fourth most populated country in south America after Argentina, Brazil and Colombia. It is roughly divided into three regions: the Coast, a desert plain running the length of the sea shore; the Sierra or Highlands formed by the Andean mountain range; and the Jungle, an entanglement of tropical forests. This is a very simplified division, but provides a general picture of Peru’s territory, even though it has an exceptional variety of weather conditions and altitudes, and supports 83 of the 103 living ecosystems existing in the world.

Lima, was founded on January 18, 1535 by Francisco Pizarro on the banks of the Rimac river, in an area occupied by some twenty pacific indigenous townships which had been subdued by the Incas. Numerous temples and pyramids existed in this green and well irrigated valley. The ruins of some of these buildings, called huacas, can still be seen. Pachacamac, to the South of Lima, in the Lurin Valley, is the most important of these remains. In 1542 Lima was made the capital of the Spanish South American Viceroyalty (which included present day Colombia and Bolivia, as well as parts of Chile and Argentina). The University of San Marcos, the first in the continent, was founded in 1551. in 1594, the Jesuits began to operate the first printing press in South America. The mansions and palaces built during the 17th and 18th centuries tell of Lima’s importance as political center of the Spanish empire. The city was favored by the benefits derived from the mining of gold and silver in Potosi (present day Bolivia) and mercury in Huancavelica with the exploitation of native labor. Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula dominated social life, next came the mestizos (the mixture of Spanish and Indian blood), with whom they were in conflict, and finally the Negro slaves and the scorned Indians. From time to time the quietness of the city was disrupted by earthquakes (the most devastating in 1687 and 1746), and by the attacks of English and Dutch pirates and privateers. Armed by their countries – Spain’s rivals – they plundered and destroyed coastal cities. The port of El Callao was sacked by Francis Drake, the most famous of the English pirates. In 1821, Lima became the capital of independent Peru, and was seriously damaged during the war fought against Chile (1879-1883). Its expansion was resumed at the end of the past century when the walls having enclosed the city since 1670 were finally destroyed, and the suburbs of Miraflores, Barranco, Chorrillos, Magdalena, appeared. In mid this century, a new industrial and modernizing cycle, which coincided with a high demographic growth and an unparalleled peasant migration, spurred its expansion towards both the East and South. Peruvians from throughout the whole country, but particularly from Andean areas, moved to the capital which as a result became definitely copper colored and mestizo, and traditional cultural values were put into question. The newcomers settled in straw mat huts erected on surrounding hills and barren sandy areas, which later developed into Pueblos Jóvenes (literally “young towns”). In some instances, and due to the personal effort of their dwellers, they have attained a relative comfort, others, instead, struggle in an oppressive poverty. Huge human settlements with precarious dwellings and deficient sanitary systems and services cohabit with islands of well – being, great highrises , elegant suburbs, splendid parks, commercial malls, boutiques and restaurants like the best in the propserous cities of the industrialized wold. Its population increases by 150,000 people per year and it is prospected that on the second decade of the new millenium it will become into a megalopolis of 10 million inhabitants. In the last few years, a new modernizing drive appears to be under way as a consequence of the expansion of trade and services. In 1995, the election of a new municipal authority Alberto Andrade, renews hope in the solution t o old problems. A process of urban reorganization and recovering of Lima’s historical center is under way with his administration.

VISITING IN LIMA

Lima covers a very extended area, including more than 40 districts with very distinct social and architectural features. It has an old colonial center: Lima Centro, Rimac, Barrios Altos, a waiting a thorough restoration,; pleasant residential areas facing the Pacific Ocean: San Isidro, Miraflores, Barranco, traditional lower and middle class districts; modern and elegant suburbs built on the first foothills of the Andes: Monterrico, La Molina, La Planicie, and a seaport: Callao. In the old city center there are slums and, in the out skirts, extensive pueblos jóvenes (shanty towns), of extremely varied degrees of development, mainly inhabited by the new generations of migrants.

Miraflores

Nevertheless, Miraflores is the center of modern Lima’s commercial and social activity. It owes its present day image to the enthusiasm of its municipal authorities. Avenidas Pardo, Larco and Benavides, three of the district’s main avenues, are lined with hotels, restaurants, banks, boutiques, pubs, cafés, art galleries and high buildings; but you will also be surprised to find, charming and quiet places, small squares shadowed be venerable ficus trees, and old mansions and quintas, such as Quinta Bustos (Avenida 28 de Julio 560). The small and triangular Parque Central with wide well – kept gardens, at the end of Avenida Arequipa, is the center of the district. Coming from downtown Lima, the place to get off is at the Cine El Pacifico or the cafe-bar Haiti (know by everybody), just across the park. (However, if you are at all interested in archaeology, you may prefer to get off before getting there, at block 44 on the same avenue, and to visit Huaca Juliana or Pucllana, a vast pre – Inca adobe edification, which is believed to have been built in the shape of an enormous frog, symbol of the god of rain). Showy cafes and bars surround the park. During the daytime, with municipal authorization, street vendors sell flowers and youngsters wash cars in the neighboring streets. In a small rotonda, craftsmen sell their works, and some artists exhibit their canvases, most of them for a tourist market, while others offer portraits and watercolor paintings. Weekend evening live music shows are sponsored by the municipality, whose building is tot the side of the church, at the end of the park. San Ramón Street at one side of the park, has been renamed as “La Calle de las Pizzas” (The Street of the Pizzas) owing to the high concentration of this type of restaurants. It is the meeting place for young people coming from different parts of the city. Shell and Alcanfores are two other very lively neighboring streets. Avenida La Paz has jewelry and antique shops, and small but exclusive shopping centers, such as El Alamo and El Suche, with a variety of elegant boutiques and restaurants, in a pleasant atmosphere full of greenery. Avenidas Diagonal and Larco at each side of the park lead to a sea front avenue where recently old parks have been remodeled and embellished (Parque Salazar, where some scenes in works by both Vargas Llosa and Julio Ramón Ribeyro take place), others (Parque del Amor), and new recreation areas have been recently built, and a series of restaurants have appeared.

Barranco

Barranco still preserves its end-of-the- century aura, when it was together with Chorrillos, the summer resort of aristocratic Limenian families. Artists, painters and architects have now come to live there attracted by the undeniable charm of its “Republican” style houses and mansions, and its squares and quiet tree – lined narrow streets leading to the sea front. However, on weekend evenings, Barranco becomes the most lively district in the capital. Its main park and surrounding streets are invaded by “feast – makers” of all ages, specially young people looking for peñas, bars, restaurants, while the most romantic ones prefer the old wooden Puente de los Suspiros (Bridge of Sighs), with small houses lining the cliffs on both sides, and from where Barranco (Spanish for cliff) takes its name. Up to the 50s there was a cable car in operation, carrying swimmers down to the beach. A flight of steps lead to a recently restored chapel at the foot of a small path which to the enjoyment of the “feast-makers” gives way to a other row of restaurants and bars ending in a view overlooking the Costa Verde (Green Coast).

Costa Verde

The Costa Verde (green coast, although actually brown rather than green) is a succession of beaches, one after the other, along several kilometers, at the foot of the cliffs, from Magdalena del Mar to Chorrillos. A couple of clubs, sport fields and some of the most renowned restaurants in the city are located along it. Ritually assaulted by thousands of swimmers during the summer, some of these beaches have nevertheless lost their old prestige to the benefit of others located further South. The sea is cold and not always clean, but it has good waves for year round surfing.

CUSCO

¡Ccossco, hatun llacta napaicuquin! We greet you, Cusco, great and supreme city! This was the proud Quechua cry of travellers when arriving in this city. Although the Huatanay Valley where Cusco lies, had been inhabited for centuries long before the arrival of the Incas, its historic origin in inevitably linked to the legend of the foundation of the Inca Empire (see HISTORY). According to tradition, Manco Capac is responsible for the first plan of the city in the form of a puma with the head of a hawk; later it was divided into Hanan Cusco or upper sector, and Hurin Cusco or lower sector. The construction of the main palaces and monuments in existence at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards is attributed to Pachacutec (about 1438). In 1533 – marked by the fires of history and the relentless laws of the conquerors – the city was once again transformed, this time in a two fold manner: temples, palaces and dwelling areas were destroyed; other similar ones were partially preserved, and baroque or renaissance churches, convents, royal colleges, and colonial mansions were built over their foundations by the Spaniards. Since then, the city has been the product and expression of the continual mestization which had started. Second only to Lima, Cusco became a powerful center of Spanish rule in America. A notable event was the appearance of the Cusco school of painting, which combined the sensitivity of the Indian artist with Hispanic religious motifs, forms and concepts. In 1798 Tupac Amaru II, a descendant of the Incas and a great forerunner of the independence of the Continent, was Spanish power, protesting abusive treatment of the Indians and excessive taxes. Cusco´s decline as the hub of the Andean South began when in mid past century Arequipa was favored by a vigorous wool trade. In 1950, three centuries after its first big earthquake, Cusco was again severely damaged by another catastrophe. The migratory flow from the interior, starting about that time ,gave rise to the development of new urban areas and the emergence of shanty towns (pueblos jóvenes). From 1983 to 1995, thanks mainly to the competence of its municipal authorities, Cusco has been in the process of intense urban renovation, including the paving of roads, restoration of temples, total renewal of San Blas, installation of ornamental fountains, building of monuments, such as, the present project to remodel the Coricancha temple.

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