Jirón Amazonas
Jirón Amazonas is a major street in the Damero de Pizarro, located in the historic centre of Lima, Peru. The street starts at its intersection with the Jirón Lampa and continues until it reaches Sebastián Lorente Avenue.
History
The road that today constitutes the jirón was laid by Francisco Pizarro when he founded the city of Lima on January 18, 1535. This street was located parallel to the bed of the Rímac River and was the first of the others, so in some passages, its northern side was delimited by the small gorges or ravines that led to that riverbed. In the 18th century, the first tobacco shop was established on the second block of this road. Likewise, in the parts that were not adjacent to the ravine, sections of the Walls of Lima were built.In 1862, when the new urban nomenclature was adopted, the road was named Jirón Amazonas, after the northern department of Amazonas. Prior to this renaming, the each block had a unique name:
- Block 1: Callejón de San Francisco, for its location behind the Convent of San Francisco.
- Block 2: Barranqueta, because it was located where a small ravine that overlooked the bed of the Rímac River once began.
- Block 3: Viterbo, after a women's retreat establishment called Santa Rosa de Viterbo founded in 1680 under the protection of the Franciscan Order.
- Block 4: Barranca, for the same reason as block 2.
- Block 5: Manzanilla, after some unidentified neighbor. However, during the viceregal era, this street was known as Estanque viejo or Siete pecados, because one of the first ponds that served the eastern part of the city was built there and because of the existence of various clubs, respectively.
- Block 6: Martinete, because of the existence on that street of a gunpowder mill of that type. Later, Viceroy Abascal ordered that the mill be moved and established a grain mill which was called Molino del Medio. However, the name stuck.