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| City Guide - Lima - City Overview | ||
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City Overview Peru's capital, Lima, is a vibrant city whose grandeur may be faded but still lives on. Once the heart of Spain's South American empire - christened by its founders the 'City of Kings' - modern Lima is a huge metropolis crammed with culture and a history that goes back to the Incas and beyond. Situated halfway down Peru's desert coastline, Lima looks out on the Pacific Ocean, with the foothills of the Andes at its back. The main square of its historic centre -with its Spanish colonial mansions graced by latticed wooden balconies - was recently declared a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. Despite lacking the glamour of Rio or Buenos Aires, Lima has much to offer the sightseer - beautiful churches, museums, pretty seaside suburbs and a few remaining Inca ruins - but is also a gateway to the marvels of Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and the Amazon jungle. However, the primary sense of Lima that a visitor gets from walking around is that much of the population is merely surviving, scraping by in a variety of ingenious ways. Even in the richest districts, signs of poverty are never far away. In the main business district, it is not uncommon to see bailiffs strip a failed business of its belongings, piling unwanted items in a sorry heap on the pavement; while businesspeople, caught in traffic, are entertained by jugglers and fire-eaters and accosted by dozens of street-sellers offering paper napkins and plastic coat-hangers to the odd fake gold Rolex. The hardship of life in Lima may account for Limeños' philosophical outlook and their black sense of humour. In a city where political and financial turmoil is the norm, it does not do to take things too seriously. A popular belief in miracles and religious mysteries must also help. Lima is a capital that has outgrown its boundaries. A town originally designed for tens of thousands now accommodates nearly eight million: one third of the country lives here. As Peru's economic powerhouse, it attracts over one thousand newcomers a week from the provinces, drawn by the dream of finding work and relative security. Shantytowns continue to grow outside the city and the upper classes have abandoned the city centre for the seaside suburbs of Miraflores or San Isidro. With their skyscrapers and international banks, these are now the main business centres, while the nearby Barranco is a hub of Lima nightlife. It is all a long way from the city founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro, the Conquistador who seized the 'Land of the Incas' for Spain. Building near the site of ancient settlements - two pre-Inca temples (huaca) are still standing in San Isidro and Miraflores - it proved perfect for a colonial capital with its large, fertile river valley, a natural harbour nearby and fairly easy access to the Andes. As the centre of a Spanish viceroyalty that spanned Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile, Lima was the most important South American capital up until the nineteenth century. Much Andean silver passed through Lima on its way to Spain; and the wealth paid for the colonial mansions, the geometric street layout and Baroque churches whose altars still glisten with silver. The climate from May until November is dismal, as a grey sea mist or garua - known popularly as the 'belly of the donkey' - dominates the skies. The summer months, the best time to visit, are blessed with a hazy heat. Limeños head to the beach for the weekend to enjoy sun, sea and ceviche - raw fish marinated in lime juice, washed down with a world-famous pisco sour, a potent cocktail of brandy-like pisco, lime juice, syrup and egg whites. |
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