Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
In 1532, when Francisco Pizarro disembarked on the Peruvian coast with the intention of
conquering the area in the name of God and the Spanish crown, the Andes had already
been witness to the epic rise and fall of civilizations. There had been Chavín, dating back to
1000 BC - not a civilization in the classic sense, but an era when people in the Andes
began sharing a cultural iconography. There were the militaristic Wari, who, starting at
about AD 600, took over an area that stretched from Chiclayo to Cuzco, building a network
of roadways in the process. And, of course, there were the Incas who administered a
sprawling kingdom that began somewhere in southern Colombia and ended in the middle
of present-day Chile.
The arrival of Pizarro would see the beginning of one of
Peru's most protracted shifts. The conquest changed everything
about life in the Andes: the economics, the political systems,
the religion and the language. To some degree, Peru's modern
history has been a series of aftershocks from that seismic clash
between Inca and Spaniard. It is a conflict that remains deeply
embedded in the Peruvian psyche. Yet, its circumstances have
produced incredible things: new cultures, new races, new
voices, new cuisine - ultimately, a new civilization.
Most Magnifi-
cent Historic
Churches
» Iglesia de Santo Domingo,
Lima
» Catedral de Ayacucho
» Iglesia de La Compañía de
Jesus, Cuzco
» Iglesia de San Pedro,
Andahuaylillas
» Monasterio de Santa
Catalina, Arequipa
» Catedral de Trujillo
