Historic Centre of Lima
The Historic Centre of Lima is the historic city centre of the city of Lima, the capital of Peru. Located in the city's districts of Lima and Rímac, both in the Rímac Valley, it consists of two areas: the first is the Monumental Zone established by the Peruvian government in 1972, and the second one—contained within the first one—is the World Heritage Site established by UNESCO in 1988, whose buildings are marked with the organisation's black-and-white shield.
Founded on January 18, 1535, by Conquistador Francisco Pizarro, the city served as the political, administrative, religious and economic capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, as well as the most important city of Spanish South America. The evangelisation process at the end of the 16th century allowed the arrival of several religious orders and the construction of churches and convents. The University of San Marcos, the so-called "Dean University of the Americas", was founded on May 12, 1551, and began its functions on January 2, 1553 in the Convent of Santo Domingo.
Originally contained by the now-demolished city walls that surrounded it, the Cercado de Lima features numerous architectural monuments that have survived the serious damage caused by a number of different earthquakes over the centuries, such as the Convent of San Francisco, the largest of its kind in this part of the world. Many of the buildings are joint creations of artisans, local artists, architects and master builders from the Old Continent. It is among the most important tourist destinations in Peru.
History
The city of Lima, the capital of Peru, was founded by Francisco Pizarro on January 18, 1535, and given the name City of the Kings. Nevertheless, with time its original name persisted, which may come from one of two sources: Either the Aymara language lima-limaq, or the Spanish pronunciation of the Quechuan word rimaq. It is worth nothing that the same Quechuan word is also the source of the name given to the river that feeds the city, the Rímac River. Early maps of Peru show the two names displayed jointly.Under the Viceroyalty of Peru, the authority of the viceroy as a representative of the Spanish monarchy was particularly important, since its appointment supposed an important ascent and the successful culmination of a race in the colonial administration. The entrances to Lima of the new viceroys were specially lavish. For the occasion, the streets were paved with silver bars from the gates of the city to the Palace of the Viceroy.
The city's streets were named individually until 1862, when the city adopted the naming project of, an idea first proposed by in 1857. South of the river, what would become known as Union Street was chosen as a divisional axis for the roads that intersected with it, which would be renamed depending on whether they were to the east or west of the street, and would be connected under the name of jirón. The new names that were chosen were those of the country's administrative divisions: Those that ran parallel to the Rímac River would be named after the country's departments, while those who ran perpendicular to it would be named after the country's provinces. In reality, this rule was not strictly followed, with some streets instead taking the name of rivers, or prominent people.
Monumental Zone (1972)
On December 28, 1972, the government of Peru designated the old towns of Lima and Rímac districts as Monumental Zones which form part of the Cultural heritage of Peru through Supreme Decree Nº 2900-72-ED. The latter was then expanded on April 26, 1989, through another decree. In 1994, both the Monumental Zone of Lima and the Monumental Zone of Rímac were then included in a single area designated by Ordinance Nº 062-94-MML of the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, which approved the administrative policy of the city's historic centre. In 1998, the first Master Plan for the city was organised, being applied until 2010.During the 1980s, local textile company Barrington sponsored the placement of custom street signs featuring the traditional names of several streets in the city's historic centre, as well as a brief description of the name. These succeeded yellow plaques featuring only the names placed during the late 19th century and early 20th century, some of which were recovered in 2018 as part of restoration efforts made by government agency PROLIMA to restore the original colours of buildings' façades. In 2021, coinciding with the Bicentennial of the Independence of Peru, new yellow plaques were placed around the city, which also include each street's former name alongside its description, alongside steel signs featuring their block numbers, as well as informative totem signs.
World Heritage Site (1988)
In 1988, UNESCO declared the historic centre of Lima a World Heritage Site for its originality and high concentration of historic monuments constructed during the viceregal era, with its boundaries being significantly modified in 1991. In 2023, it was expanded with two exclaves to include the Quinta and Molino de Presa and the Ancient Reduction of Santiago Apostle of Cercado.Recent history
Starting in 2010, Peruvian real estate company Arte Express was granted ownership of a number of buildings in the area, which were restored until the company's dissolution in 2022. In 2021, as part of renovation works made in preparation for the bicentennial celebrations of that year, the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima installed 206 different QR codes across different landmarks of the centre that, when scanned, open a video that details the selected building's history.On January 18, 2024, the city's 489th anniversary, president Dina Boluarte announced a "special regime" that targets the area in order to allow restoration and repair works to take place. On January 17, 2025, the municipal authorities relaunched Lima, Ciudad de los Reyes, a patronage aimed at the promotion of the restoration of the city's cultural heritage sites.