Oechsle – Peru’s original department store

The Oechsle chain of department stores has an almost legendary status among Limeños old enough to remember it. Long before the arrival of the Chilean chains Ripley and Saga, back when Lima was a developed and modern city, Oechsle was regarded as one of the most successful and important department stores in South America.

March 3, 2010 | Culture & History

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A tale of colonial ships and Peruvian gold

In May 2007, US company Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered $500,000,000 of Peruvian gold and silver coins from the sunken colonial ship Nuestra Señora del las Mercedes. Spain immediately claimed the bounty as property of the Spanish crown, as did Peru. The saga begins more than 200 years ago, and is one that is only now coming to an end.

January 15, 2010 | Culture & History, News

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Recreation in Ayacucho – The battle that liberated a continent

On the 10th of December of this year, 185 years passed since Peru won a battle that decisively ended any hope for a Spanish presence in South America. At 3,500 above sea level, on the field of battle of the Pampa de Quinua, thousands gathered to take part in a huge recreation in honour of this occasion.

December 13, 2009 | Ayacucho Guide, Culture & History

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Cementerio Barquíjano

Walking along Av. Oscar R. Benavides, once called the Avenida Colonial that joined Callao with distant Lima, I happened upon this very pretty cemetery. It was Sunday and the large entrance was busy with families visiting lost relatives and flower sellers doing a brisk trade.

This public cemetery, built in 1859 is the final resting place of Chalacos (as the people from Callao are called) both rich and poor. The rich have built grand mausoleums while the poor suffice with a nook in a wall of tombs. Interestingly for such an old cemetery it is still in use, and it is a strange contrast to see much more modern mausoleums and graves alongside much older ones, or see old family plots more recently added to. It is also obvious, through the placing of fresh flowers and candles, whom among the dead are still remembered and mourned, and who have been forgotten.

June 17, 2009 | Lima City Guide, Opinion

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Chucuito, Callao

Where old Callao ends and La Punta begins is Chucuito, a little barrio on the rocky beaches to the side of Peru’s, main port. Originally settled by Italian immigrants as recently as the late 1800s, it soon merged seamlessly into its increasing urban surroundings.

May 28, 2009 | Culture & History, Lima City Guide

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Colonial Callao

Starting life as a rocky bay that was the nearest natural port to Pizarro’s capital of Los Reyes, El Callao soon became the most important port in the Spanish colonies. It has witnessed colonial splendour, pirate attacks, disastrous tsunamis, battles, republican splendour and economic collapse. Each of these events have left a mark on the city and the chalacos that live there, many of these marks visible to this day.

May 21, 2009 | Culture & History, Lima City Guide

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Real Felipe Fortress

The Fortaleza del Real Felipe is the most prominent landmark in Callao. Built during colonial times, it was used to defend Spain’s most important port in the Americas against pirates and corsairs who would otherwise raid Callao or nearby Lima as they did up and down the Pacific coast. Today it is a tourist attraction and museum run by Peru’s army.

April 24, 2009 | Culture & History, Lima City Guide

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Carnavales

February is over, it is finally safe to come out of hiding and explain how carnival is celebrated in Peru. While Brazilians are building floats and flailing around, most Peruvians have to look over their shoulders. I have to mention Brazil because to most foreigners, the word carnival is synonymous with Peru’s largest neighbour. It may come as a surprise to many though that carnival is a big deal in Peru too – in fact, the next biggest and best carnival experience in the Americas is hosted in the north of the Andean country, in beautiful Cajamarca. Here the hugely anticipated event is the local population’s reason for being – and you can’t blame them, read about it here.

March 8, 2009 | Culture & History, Lima City Guide, Opinion

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Casa de Osambela-Oquendo

This mansion in the colonial heart of Lima is as beautiful as it is unique. In its 200 year history it has seen two wealthy owners come and go, leaving it with two names. I happened to be passing by when Lizardo Retes, who takes care of the site that is now a cultural centre, offered to show me around – and to the roof where you can see as far as Callao.

January 16, 2009 | Culture & History, Lima City Guide

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Peru’s Amazonian Indigenous

In Peru’s vast Amazon region there are 65 ethnic groups with their own distinct traditions and languages passed down orally from generation to generation. What does the future hold for these peoples?

September 5, 2008 | Opinion

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Santiago Queirolo

One of Peru’s many Italian immigrants, Santiago Queirolo Raggio arrived in Magdalena Vieja, now Pueblo Libre, in 1880s. In this time Magdalena Vieja was surrounded by an expanse of countryside and the city of Lima was some distance away by horse.

August 2, 2008 | Lima City Guide, Peruvian Food

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Puente de Fierro

Designed by a well known frenchman, Gustave Eiffel of tower fame, the Puente de Fierro (or Bolivar as it is sometimes called) was built in 1882 to be used as a viaduct for the train route to Cusco. At 488m long it was the longest in the world at the time, until some years later it was beaten by a Scottish bridge. Even today, not including suspension bridges, it is still the 7th longest bridge that exists.

April 17, 2008 | Arequipa Guide, Culture & History

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