Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sipping potent pisco cocktails at the vintage bars and chic lounges of Bar-
ranco (
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)
Admiring pre-Columbian masterpieces, from sublime tapestries to intricate
goldwork at Museo Larco (
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)
Exploring sandy ruins with several civilizations' worth of temples at
Pachacamac (
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)
Leaping off the Miraflores cliff tops and paragliding (
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) among
the high-rises with the Pacific Ocean filling the horizon
Gazing upon the skulls of some of Latin America's most celebrated saints at
the Iglesia de Santo Domingo (
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)
in Central Lima
Strolling or cycling the colonial neighborhoods of Barranco (
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)
and the lush coastal parks of Miraflores (
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)
History
As ancient as it is new, Lima has survived regular apocalyptic earthquakes, warfare and
the rise and fall of civilizations. This resilient city has welcomed a rebirth after each de-
struction. In pre-Hispanic times, the area served as an urban center for the Lima, Wari,
Ichsma and even the Inca cultures in different periods.
When Francisco Pizarro sketched out the boundaries of his 'City of Kings' in January
of 1535, there were roughly 200,000 indigenous people living in the area. By the 18th
century, the Spaniards' tumbledown village of adobe and wood had given way to a vice-
regal capital, where fleets of ships arrived to transport the golden spoils of conquest back
to Europe. After a disastrous earthquake wiped out much of the city in 1746, it was rebuilt
with splendorous baroque churches and ample
casonas
(mansions). The city's prominence
began to fade after independence in 1821, when other urban centers were crowned capit-
als of newly independent states.
In 1880, Lima was ransacked and occupied by the Chilean military during the War of
the Pacific (1879-83). As part of the pillage, the Chileans made off with thousands of
tomes from the National Library (they were returned in 2007). Postwar expansion meant
that by the 1920s Lima was crisscrossed by a network of broad boulevards inspired by
Parisian urban design. When another devastating earthquake struck in 1940, the city again
had to rebuild.
By the mid-1900s the population was growing exponentially. An influx of rural poor
took the metro area from 661,000 inhabitants in 1940 to 8.5 million by 2007. The migra-
