Lima, city of kings and viceroys, was always a sort of oasis of culture and pomp in the American Indian. Since its foundation, only a few decades were required to put on a par with Mexico as the largest metropolis in Spanish America. Baroque churches and Renaissance mansions and palaces, universities, archbishops and a cultural activity characterized the city since the dawn of the seventeenth century, when he had 25 thousand inhabitants.
Former Rimac River valley, indigenous word that means talkative, was originally inhabited by a fishing village ruled by the chief collectors Tauli Chusco. It was here that the January 18, 1535, the conquistador Francisco Pizarro founded the city of Lima, in large part due to the strategic location of its port in the center of the Peruvian coast and South America. In less than seven decades concentrated power and wealth of all the commercial and cultural activities of the Viceroyalty: had become the largest city in America.
In the eighteenth century, primarily because of the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata, which took over the management of large mines of Potosi in Upper Peru (now Bolivia), Lima became a process of decline and instability that culminated in 1821 with the proclamation of the Independence of the Republic. When opening the twentieth century, during the Belle Epoque (1915-1930), occupied the city again a leader among the most modern cities in the continent.
Since the mid-forties, with the intensification of migration from the countryside to the city, Lima has been transformed into a small ring of Peru come up with a melting pot of peoples and cultures, with their 6.5 million people, now houses 25% of the country's population and almost two thirds of its economic and industrial activity.
In the nearly five centuries since its founding Spanish, Lima has been synonymous with a surprising mix that both laymen and experts and that is one of its greatest values. Examples abound of him in his clean and innovative cuisine, which the learned among the largest in the world, in its monumental architecture, which add to the Cultural Heritage of Humanity and its people, skillful and naughty, really expert in adapting to change. In addition, Lima offers the tourist excellent museums and art galleries, theater performances, cultural exhibitions and high-level modern shopping and leisure, as well as important archaeological and natural attractions.
Climate and Access
Lima is located on the shores of the Pacific. Has two marked seasons: winter, between May and September, with average temperatures of 18 0C and high humidity, allowing the occurrence of drizzle or light garua and a summer or summer, between December and March, marked by sunny days and temperatures often reach 30 0C. In Lima, the rains are almost nonexistent.
The capital is connected to all cities of the coast by the modern Pan-American Highway, which runs parallel to the sea section of North Lima and arrived at Tumbes (border with Ecuador), to 1370 km. Lima and the southern section runs 1291 km. from the capital to Tacna (border with Chile). The connection with the cities of the mountain is via the Central Highway and the route Paramonga Huaraz (paved) and inland penetration asserted Yauyos Cañete Huancayo, Huanuco and Lima Oyon Huacho Sing. As a gateway to Peru, Lima has an international airport with regular flights to major cities in the world, with domestic services to major cities in the interior.
