Peru

Lima was founded by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, and was the capital city of Spain's colonies in South America. It is today the largest city in the western hemisphere, after Mexico City and Sao Paulo, both of which we have visited, and the capital of Peru.

A logical place to begin our visit to Lima is in the Plaza Mayor, the main square of the city. We have seen enough of the Spanish-speaking countries of the western hemisphere to know the arrangement. The main cathedral and the residence of the country's president will both be facing the main square in a capital city. In non-capital cities, it will be local government buildings that face the main square.

The Government Palace of Lima, which faces the Plaza Mayor, was begun in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro, and was built on the site of an Inca monument. The palace has been changed and improved many times since then.

If this story seems familiar it could be because there are many parallels between Francisco Pizarro conquering the Inca and founding Lima and Hernan Cortes conquering the Aztec and founding Mexico City.

The Cathedral of Lima and the Government Palace face the Plaza Mayor in Lima just as the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Palace face the Zocalo (main square) in Mexico City.

The Plaza Mayor was founded over an Inca monument just as the Zocalo was founded over the main square in the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan.

Francisco Pizarro had taken the Inca emperor, Atahualpa, as a hostage just as the forces of Hernan Cortes took Moctezuma II as a hostage.

The positioning of the National Palace relative to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City is virtually identical to the positioning of the Government Palace relative to the Cathedral of Lima.

Should we be surprised by the little-known fact that Pizarro and Cortes were cousins, although not close cousins? Cortes' conquest of the Aztecs took place a few years before Pizarro's conquest of the Inca.

Unlike Cortes Pizarro never built a palace for himself, as Cortes did at Cuernavaca, and unlike Cortes Pizarro was killed in action in the new colonies, although by a fellow Spaniard. The ashes of Pizarro are in the Cathedral of Lima.

The so-called "Ransom Room" is still there in Peru. This is where Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor, was held as a prisoner. He was told that he would be freed if he could have the room filled with gold, which he did. But his conquerors tried and executed him anyway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ransom_Room#/media/File:Cajamarca_Cuartorescate_Atahualpa_lou.jpg

But disturbing the Inca came at a price, in fact a very heavy price. There were leaves that the Inca used to chew as a mild stimulant, similar to the kat leaves that are used in Yemen and Ethiopia. These were coca leaves. But the white man found a way to distill the leaves into the insidious white powder known as cocaine. The leaves would also bring about the most popular branded drink that the world has ever seen, Coca Cola.

Of course the most important contribution that the Inca, in what is now Peru, have contributed to the world is potatoes. Potatoes are so important because they can feed a lot of people per area of cultivation. Potatoes are easy to grow, relative to other crops.

The following scenes begin in Lima's Plaza Mayor, also known as Plaza de Armes. The old part of Lima is built around a number of such squares. When Peru was eventually liberated, in the Nineteenth Century after three centuries of Spanish rule, independence was declared in the Government Palace.

The newly-independent former Spanish colonies did not always get along with one another, Peru fought a war with Chile in 1879. The main reason that there are so many small Spanish-speaking countries is that imperial Spain forbade it's colonies in the western hemisphere from communicating with one another, all communication had to go through Spain.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >,. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0458664,-77.0304668,3a,75y,14.94h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipO7HdzQ3bwyLzFulY7inxIBIeJOVezAODQsOVSe!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO7HdzQ3bwyLzFulY7inxIBIeJOVezAODQsOVSe%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya350.62567-ro-0-fo100!7i7680!8i3840

There is a Chinatown in Lima, not far from the center of the city, and the following scenes begin there. Lima has attracted many immigrants, a recent president of Japanese ancestry was Alberto Fujimori.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0510855,-77.0256194,2a,75y,50.21h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sF044yogBlAkOrHjacVXMCQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DF044yogBlAkOrHjacVXMCQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D49.576584%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here is the modern city of Lima.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0935187,-77.0332627,3a,75y,124.5h,105t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sqzfJrCsaam1vRnWB4P-36w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DqzfJrCsaam1vRnWB4P-36w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D124.5%26pitch%3D-14.999996%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This is more of the modern city of Lima.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.1162495,-77.0282927,3a,75y,332.8h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sefVTufdf1AfOXiFENCDRDw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DefVTufdf1AfOXiFENCDRDw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D333.32178%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This area is called Barranco.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.1444877,-77.0210891,3a,75y,143.52h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s5MbmvjLVVtADXVcarS8Hrw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D5MbmvjLVVtADXVcarS8Hrw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D144.14172%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here is something really interesting. The following scenes begin in a complex known as Huaca Pucllana. This is a very old pyramid within the city of Lima. It was not built by the Inca, but came long before them. Having such a pyramid parallels the case of Mexico City. There was the pyramid complex of Teotihuacan, which we saw in the first set of scenes in our visit to Mexico City. 

This was built long before the arrival of the Aztecs, just as Huaca Pucllana was built long before the arrival of the Inca. Teotihuacan had been abandoned long before the time of the Aztecs and, although they were well aware of it, they knew no more than anyone else about those who built it.

The differences, of course, are that Huaca Pucllana was built of clay, while Teotihuacan was built of stone, and that Huaca Pucllana is now well within Lima while Teotihuacan is outside of Mexico City.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.1102952,-77.0334249,3a,75y,264.92h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sT12bfzXerWGzsajq4O7ANw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DT12bfzXerWGzsajq4O7ANw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D264.80862%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Lima is growing rapidly into the Andes Mountains above the city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-12.0220606,-76.8709359,3a,75y,73.5h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sWe42eGYrQPT8XCRW79MlJw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DWe42eGYrQPT8XCRW79MlJw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D73.5%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The Inca capital was actually what is now the city of Cusco (or Cuzco). The following scenes begin in the main square of Cusco, the Plaza Mayor, facing the city's cathedral.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.5165488,-71.9784123,3a,75y,339.97h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sOR0Z-vd6LMqPTvuT9hjzFg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DOR0Z-vd6LMqPTvuT9hjzFg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D340.48306%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Finally, we come to one of the best-known sights in Peru, and also one of the best-known sights in the world. Manchu Picchu was a kind of a royal getaway for the Inca emperor. It is over 2 km altitude above sea level, and is believed to have been constructed about a century before the Spanish conquest of the Inca. The Spanish conquerors apparently never found it, and it was only brought into the public consciousness in 1911. 

The topsoil seems to have been carried up to Manchu Picchu, and than formed into terraces for agriculture. The concept of Manchu Picchu may remind readers of Cuernavaca, built in a peaceful place some distance from Mexico City, to where the Aztec emperors could withdraw.

Remember that we have already seen the reason for the "sugarloaf" form of the mountains here in the supporting documents in "The Story Of Planet Earth", on the geology blog, 68) THE EXTRUSION MOUNTAINS OF SOUTH AMERICA.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-13.1628074,-72.5448034,2a,75y,223.05h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1seLACkA-tl74WevPe4M9sGQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DeLACkA-tl74WevPe4M9sGQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D222.29454%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656