Barranco – Iglesia de la Ermita
March 5, 2007
Barranco, long since swallowed up by the huge city of Lima, was once a tiny distant fishing village. Legend has it that one winter, while out fishing, a group of fishermen were lost in Lima’s legendary sea mist. After praying and searching in vain for hours in the darkness they noticed a glittering light in the distance. Rowing towards it, they ran ashore and were saved. They climbed the cliff to where they had seen the light and found nothing but a wooden cross in the sand.
It was here, as the legend goes, they built the Church of La Ermita, where it still stands to this day.
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[...] In the late 1800’s this slope was turned into a path, and where fishermen once had to climb up or down the last portion of the cliff, a staircase was built. Over the ravine, now refered to as the Slope of the Baths, was built a wooden Bridge of the Sighs. It was the first crossing built across the gorge. The bridge was only partially destroyed by troops from Chile who and burnt down most of Barranco and its historic church. [...]