LimaCITY OF THE KINGS

On the 18th of January 1535, the Spanish Conquistador Franci sco Pizarro founded

“ T h e C i t y o f K i n g s ” (Ciudad de los Reyes) that eventual ly became known as L ima. The locat ion in which L ima was founded was never the f i r s t opt ion in 1533 Jauja was the one of the f i r s t areas chosen by the Conquistadors however , due to the co ld c l imate and di s tance f rom the sea made them look e l sewhere. Franci sco bapt ized the c i ty “The City of Kings” i t i s thought the name comes f rom the fest ival that i s ce lebrated in Spain cal led

“Los Tres Reyes Magos” (The Three Kings) th i s fest ival now i s widely ce lebrated across South America however , Mar ía Rostworowsk an h i s tor ian suggests the c i ty was named after the King of Spain Car los V and hi s mother Juana I , Queen of Cast i le .

Before th i s , the area where L ima can be located was occupied and had been occupied for many years , when Pizarro came the area was home to the Cui smanco people and governed by Taulichusco . Some chronic ler s wrote that Taul ichusco rece ived the Spanish in a f r iendly and courteous way and that he had already heard of their presence in Tahuant insuyo. To prevent the humi l iat ion and s lavery of h i s people he asked them to spread out throughout the terr i tory .The fate of Tahuant insuyo i s unknown some hi s tor ians suggest he died of natural causes whi le some di spute he may have been murdered. Taul ichusco i s not t ru ly forgotten in L ima, i f you travel to the center of L ima and f ind Pasaje Santa Rosa you wi l l f ind a large rock which was placed in honor of the last governor before the Spanish arr ived of the Rimac area, Taul ichusco.

P i zar ro bu i l t L ima in a s im i la r fash ion to the c i t i e s i n Spa in , the c i t y s ta r t i ng w i th a la rge p laza ( square ) and expands ou twards . I t i s thought that The Pres iden t ia l Pa lace was bu i l t on top of the home of Tau l i chusco and the Cathedra l of L ima was bu i l t on top of a re l ig ious temp le . The cons t ruc t ion of the new c i ty came at the cos t of i nd igenous peop le had been conver ted to s laves .

Limain 1535

In 1536, Lima was attacked under the orders of

Manco Inca; this was led by

Inca general Quizo Yupanqui. Fierce fighting broke out on the outskirts of the city however, the outcome was unfavorable for Manco as the Spanish and their indigenous allies defeated Manco’s resistance force and the evidence of this battle can still be seen today at the archaeological site of

Puruchuco in Ate.

Lima cont inued to grow af ter the rebe l l ion was crushed however , on

26th of June 1541 the founder of L ima was assass inated in the Pres ident ia l Palace by the son of his o ld fr iend who became enemies

Diego de Almagro . Cr i s tóbal Vaca de Cas tro became the next co lonia l adminis trator in Peru .

In 1542 Spain designated Lima as capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru and the site of a Real Audiencia, the high court, in 1543. From here the Spaniards ruled over vast areas in South America. In 1551 , Peru being heavily influenced by the Catholic Church became the place where the Spanish Inquisition headquarters for South America would be opened.

Due to Lima’s growing wealth and influenced it made it a target for pirates and in 1579 the British pirate Francis Drake raided Callao and in 1615 and 1624 Callao was once again raided by the Dutch pirate Jacques L ’Hermite. To prevent further raids on the important port a fort was built under the orders of Viceroy José Manso de Velasco and in 1770 the fort Real Felipe was finished. The fort has now been converted into a museum and can still be visited today.

Another major event that occurred in Peru and in Lima was the occupation of Lima by the Chileans who took the city on January 17 1881 during the War of the Pacific , Lima was not liberated until 1883 when Peru surrendered.

L i m a today i s a bus t l i ng c i t y w i th a popu la t ion of 8 m i l l i on peop le and a l though that the cap i ta l i s s t rugg l i ng w i th many ma jor i s sues there i s a lways the good par t s that we can f i nd . So for the ann i ve r sary of L ima go check ou t the c i t y cen ter as they are even t s and a l so check ou t the museums to f i nd out some more

in te res t i ng in fo rmat ion of not j u s t L ima but of Peru i n genera l .

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