Lima history

Lima is the largest city within Peru and it is documented as the 9th largest metropolitan city amongst all metropolitan cities on this planet. Lima has been an important contributor in the economy of Peru and holds remains of the historical days of Peru.

 Amerindian groups under Inca Empire were the ones who were the inhabitants of the land which is today called Lima. This happened in the early sixteenth century. Spanish rulers defeated Inca rulers by the year 1532 and hence this land came under the rule of the Spanish. Initially Pizarro, the leader of Spanish Army, used the nearby Jauja as capital but a land in the proximity of river Rímac enticed him and hence by mid January, 1535, Ciudad de los Reyes (the so called Lima of today) was used as capital under his regime.

 Even the Viceroy of Peru used the same city as their capital in the year 1543 and this helped Lima gain importance in the history of Peru. San Marcos University, which happens to be the first university of the Western Hemisphere, was built in the year 1551 in the city itself. A Roman Catholic Diocese was also built in the year 1541 and it was given the status of archdiocese five years after its birth. All this helped Lima gain recognition on the national front.

Lima faced two serious earthquakes in the years 1630 and then in 1687, but it still worked seriously towards its growth and hence the 17th century turned out to be an important turning point for Lima. Its business expanded from European countries to as far as the Philippines.

 A wall was built around the city somewhere during the period of 1684 to 1687 so as to protect the city from dangerous pirates. The decision of constructing a wall was taken by Melchor de Navarra y Rocafull, Viceroy of the city in those days. Lima was totally destroyed during the year 1746 due to a severe earthquake and it took years before Lima could be rebuilt once again from scratch.

During the mid 19th century, Lima experienced huge economical benefits and by 1872 the wall, which was built around Lima in 17th century, was brought down. Immigrants from Andean region entered Lima in the year 1940 and the city started to work hard towards a better future and their hard work clearly reflects in the city of today.