Miguel Grau and the Battle of Angamos

Known as the Gentleman of the Seas, Admiral Miguel Grau is remembered by friends and enemies alike as not only a great tactician in naval warfare, but also for his chivalry, the like of which had not been seen before or since. He died in combat defending Peru against invading aggressors at the Battle of Angamos on the 8th of October 1879, and is remembered on this day each year with a public holiday.

October 8, 2009 | Beyond Peru, Culture & History

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Tacna’s double independence celebrations

For Peru’s southern-most region of Tacna, independence celebrations last twice as long as in the rest of the country. For it was this region that gained its freedom twice, the first time from the Spanish, and the second time from Chilean oppression.

September 1, 2009 | Culture & History, Tacna & Moquegua 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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Caravelí

At 12 hours from the Peruvian capital Lima, Caravelí, in the Arequipan province of the same name, was lucky to survive and keep – thanks to its relative isolation – its splendid bodegas of wines and piscos. Other towns in the south weren’t so lucky and were pillaged and burnt to the ground by Chilean troops in the War of the Pacific. This year the town presented itself in the national pisco contest that took place in Lima and took first place for its exemplary pisco of black creole grape, called El Comendador.

January 3, 2009 | Arequipa Guide

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Canta

The town of Canta sits upon a hill high up in the Chillón Valley of Lima. Sitting on another nearby hill is Obrajillo, and on another San Miguel. This peaceful and picturesque town, green throughout most of the year, is just two hours journey from Lima.

March 30, 2008 | Lima Region Guide

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Morro Solar

The Morro Solar of Chorrillos was the scene of a battle, was once an exclusive beach resort in the 1800s and nowadays is home to an observatory, some monuments and the exclusive Regatta’s club.

March 17, 2008 | Culture & History, Lima City Guide

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Chile returns Peru’s historic books

Realising that the new found mineral wealth on the pacific coast lay entirely in Bolivian and Peruvian hands, and sparked by Bolivia’s plan to tax Chilean companies extracting it, Chile launched an invasion against the two nations. After their successful land grab in the south, Chilean troops continued up the coast, burning down towns and massacring thousands. When they reached Lima, all resistance was put down and troops began ransacking Peruvian national treasures – Lima having been the centre of the Spanish empire in the new world.

November 7, 2007 | News

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Chorrillos

Chorrillos is a southern district in Lima that runs along the beach then over and behind the Morro Solar. It’s an interesting place to walk and take photos. There are old buildings that survived the marauding Chileans, a modern malecón that looks beautiful in the sun, an ocean filled with fishing boats and a beach full of restaurants in which you can eat their catch.

May 24, 2007 | Lima City Guide

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The Central Railway of Peru

It’s among the most notable railways of the world and is unequalled in the technical difficulties overcome and the high elevation reached in its construction, climbing over the divide of the Andes from Callao to Huancayo in the department of Junín.

March 18, 2007 | Culture & History

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Barranco

Not far from the village of Surco and some way from the city of Lima was the fishing village of Barranco. Time passed and Barranco became a small town popular with Lima’s elite – many of whom decided to build large lavish houses there.

For a while Barranco was named the City of Windmills as each home in the area had a windmill on its property to pump water from wells. More time passed and Barranco became a popular seaside resort coping with an influx of rich Limeños and foreigners building country homes there. Many of the foreigners at this time, around the late 1700’s, were British and German. Still, despite increased development into the 1800’s the town was an calm oasis in the desert, with sufficient supplies of water and trees to be seen everywhere. It was peaceful – but not for long.

March 6, 2007 | Lima City Guide

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Chile: Iquique – heat at last

The northern-most region of Chile is a land of barren rock and the driest desert in the world. One that has no recorded rainfall – ever. This inhospitable region is huge, towns and cities are hundreds of kilometres apart.

The entire region was once Peruvian and Bolivian territory until nitrates were discovered that could be exported at great value – so much value that Chile decided they wanted it and took it in the War of the Pacific, making themselves rich and subjecting Bolivia to poverty and landlocked status. The Chileans, who did not have the expertise to extract the nitrate, called on British and German companies to run the mines. The cities in the region grew when the mining towns were abandoned when the industry collapsed on the German invention of synthetic nitrates during WWI. Herein lays Iquique’s history.

September 19, 2006 | Beyond Peru

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¡Pisco es Perú! – That’s Pisco Peruano…

WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, charged with protecting intellectual property around the world, has handed over Peru’s intellectual property to the Chileans. They have again agreed that the 476 year old Peruvian grape brandy called Pisco was invented by, and all rights to the name are owned by, the 465 year old Chilean nation.

August 18, 2006 | News, Opinion, Peruvian Food

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