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LIMA

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 690 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LIMA , the See also:

principal See also:city and the See also:capital of See also:Peru and of the See also:department and See also:province of Lima, on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:river Rimac, 71 M. above its mouth and the same distance E. by N. of its seaport See also:Callao, in 12° 2' 34" S., 77° 7' 36" W. Pop. (1906 estimate) 140,000, of whom a large proportion is of See also:negro descent, and a considerable number of See also:foreign See also:birth. The city is about 48o ft. above See also:sea-level, and stands on an arid See also:plain, which rises gently toward the S., and occupies an See also:angle between the Cerros de See also:San Jeronimo (2493 ft.) and San Cristobal (1411 ft.) on the N. and a See also:short range of See also:low hills, called the Cerros de San Bartolome, on the E. The surrounding region is arid, like all this See also:part of the Pacific See also:coast, but through See also:irrigation large areas have been brought under cultivation, especially along the See also:water-courses. The Rimac has its source about 105 M. N.E. of Lima and is fed by the melting snows of the higher See also:Andes. It is an insignificant stream in See also:winter and a raging torrent in summer. Its tributaries are all of the same See also:character, except the Rio Surco, which rises near Chorrillos and flowing northward joins the Rimac a few See also:miles above the city. These, with the Rio Lurin, which enters the Pacific a short distance S. of Chorrillos, provide water for irrigating the districts near Lima. The See also:climate varies somewhat from that of the arid coast in See also:general, in having a winter of four months characterized by cloudy skies, dense fogs and sometimes a drizzling See also:rain. The See also:air in this See also:season is raw and chilly.

For the See also:

rest of the See also:year the See also:sky is clear and the air dry. The mean temperature for the year is 66° F., the winter minimum being 59° and the summer maximum 78°. The older part of Lima was laid out and built with mathematical regularity, the streets See also:crossing each other at right angles and enclosing square areas, called manzanas, of nearly See also:uniform See also:size. Later extensions, however, did not follow this See also:plan strictly, and there is some variation from the straight See also:line in the streets and also in the size and shape of the manzanas. The streets are roughly paved with cobble stones and lighted with See also:gas or See also:electricity. A broad See also:boulevard of See also:modern construction partly encircles the city, occupying the site of the old See also:brick walls (18 to 20 ft. high, 10 to 12 ft. thick at the See also:base and 9.ft. at the See also:top) which were constructed in 1585 by a See also:Fleming named Pedro Ramon, and were razed by See also:Henry Meiggs during the See also:administration of See also:President See also:Balta. The water-See also:supply is derived from the Rimac and filtered, and the drainage, once carried on the See also:surface, now passes into a See also:system of subterranean sewers. The streets and suburbs of Lima are served by tramways, mostly worked by electric See also:traction. The suburban lines include two to Callao, one to Magdalena, and one to Miraflores and Chorrillos. On the See also:north See also:side of the river is the suburb or See also:district of San Lazaro, shut in by the encircling hills and occupied in See also:great part' by the poorer classes. The principal squares are the Plaza See also:Mayor, Plaza See also:Bolivar (formerly P. de la. Inquisicion and P. de la Independencia), Plaza de la Exposicion, and Plaza del Acho, on the north side of the river, the site of the See also:bull-See also:ring, The public gardens, connected with the Exposition See also:palace on the S. side of the city, and the Paseo See also:Colon are popular among the Limenos as See also:pleasure resorts.

The See also:

long Paseo Colon„ with its parallel drives and paths, is ornamented with trees, shrubbery and statues, notably the See also:Columbus statue, a See also:group in See also:marble designed by the sculptor Salvatore Revelli. It is the favourite fashionable resort. A part of the old See also:wagon road from Lima t* Callao, which was paved and improved with walks and trees by See also:viceroy O'See also:Higgins, is also much frequented. The See also:avenue (3 M. long) leading from the city to Magdalena was beautified by the planting of four rows of palms during the Pierola administration. Among other public resorts are the Botanical See also:garden, the Grau and Bolognesi avenues (parts of the Boulevard), the Acho avenue on the right bank of the Rimac, and the celebrated avenue of the Descalzos, on the N. side of the river,, bordered with statuary. The noteworthy monuments of the city are the See also:bronze equestrian statue of Bolivar in the plaza of that name, the Columbus statue already mentioned, the Bolognesi statue in the small square of that name, and the San See also:Martin statue in the Plaza de la Exposicion. The 22nd of May See also:monument, a marble See also:shaft crowned by a See also:golden bronze figure of Victory, stands where the Callao road crosses the Boulevard. Most conspicuous among the public buildings of Lima is the See also:cathedral, whose twin towers and broad See also:facade look down upon the Plaza Mayor. Its See also:foundation See also:stone was laid in 1535 but the cathedral was not consecrated until 1625. The great See also:earthquake of 1946 reduced it to a See also:mass of ruins, but it was reconstructed by 1758, practically, as it now stands. It has See also:double aisles and ten richly-decorated chapels, in one of which rest the remains of Francisco See also:Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru. Also facing the same square are the archiepiscopal and See also:government palaces; the latter formerly the palace of the viceroys.

The interesting casa of the See also:

Inquisition, whose tribunals rivalled those of See also:Madrid in See also:cruelty, faces upon Plaza Bolivar, as also the old University of San Marcos, which See also:dates from 1551 and has faculties of See also:theology, See also:law, See also:medicine, See also:philosophy and literature, See also:mathematics, . and administrative and See also:political See also:economy. The churches and convents of Lima are richly endowed as a See also:rule, and some of the churches represent a very large See also:expenditure of See also:money. The See also:convent of San Francisco, near the Plaza Mayor, is the largest monastic See also:establishment in Lima and contains some very See also:fine carvings. Its See also:church is the finest in the city after the cathedral. Other noteworthy churches are those of the convents of Santo Domingo, La Merced and San See also:Augustine. There are a number of conventual establishments (for both sexes), which, with their chapels, and with the smaller churches, retreats, sanctuaries, &c., make up a See also:total of 66 institutions devoted to religious observances. An attractive, and perhaps the most popular public See also:building in Lima is the Exposition palace on the plaza and in the public gardens of the same name, on the See also:south side of the city. It dates from 1872; its halls are used for important public assemblies, and its upper See also:floor is occupied by the See also:National See also:Historical See also:Institute, its museum and the See also:gallery of historical paintings. Other noteworthy edifices and institutions are the National Library, the Lima See also:Geographical Society, founded in 1888; the See also:Mint, which dates from 1565 and is considered to be one of the best in South See also:America; the great bull-ring of the Plaza del Acho, which dates from 1768 and can seat 8000 spectators; the See also:Concepcion See also:market; a modern See also:penitentiary; and various charitable institutions. In addition to the old university on the Plaza Bolivar, which has been modernized and greatly improved, Lima has a school of See also:engineers and mines (founded 1876), the old See also:college of San See also:Carlos, a normal school (founded 1905), a school of See also:agriculture (situated outside the city limits and founded in 1902), two See also:schools for girls under the direction of religious sisters, an episcopal See also:seminary called the Seminario Conciliar de Santo Toribio, and a school of arts and trades in which elementary technical instruction is given. Under the old regime, See also:primary instruction was almost wholly neglected, but the loth See also:century brought about important changes in this respect. In addition to the primary schools, the government maintains See also:free See also:night schools for workmen.

The residences of the city are for the most part of one See also:

storey and have mud walls supported by a wooden framework which enclose open spaces, called patios, around which the living rooms are ranged. The better class of dwellings have two floors and are sometimes built of brick. A projecting, lattice-enclosed window for the use of See also:women is a prominent feature of the larger *louses and gives a picturesque effect to the streets. Manufacturing has had some considerable development since the closing years of the 19th century; the most important manufactories are established outside the city limits; they produce See also:cotton and woollen textiles, the products of the See also:sugar estates, See also:chocolate, See also:cocaine, cigars and cigarettes, See also:beer, artificial liquors, cotton-See also:seed oil, hats, See also:macaroni, matches, See also:paper, See also:soap and candles. The commercial interests of the city are important, a large part of the interior being supplied from this point. With its See also:port Callao the city is connected by two See also:steam See also:railways, one of which was built as See also:early as 1848; one railway runs northward to See also:Ancon, and another, the famous Oroya line, runs inland 130 m., crossing the Western See also:Cordillera at an See also:elevation of 15,645 ft. above sea-level, with branches to Cerro de Pasco and Huari. The export See also:trade properly belongs to Callao, though often credited to Lima. The Limenos are an intelligent, hospitable, pleasure-loving See also:people, and the many attractive features of their city make it a favourite See also:place of See also:residence for foreigners. Lima was founded on the 18th of See also:January 1535 by Francisco Pizarro, who named it See also:Ciudad de los Reyes (City of the See also:Kings) in See also:honour of the See also:emperor See also:Charles V. and Dona Juana his See also:mother, or, according to some authorities, in See also:commemoration of the Feast of the See also:Epiphany (6th January) when its site is said to have been selected. The name soon after gave place to that of Lima, a See also:Spanish corruption of the See also:Quichua word Rimac. In 1541 Lima was made an episcopal see, which in 1545 was raised to a See also:metropolitan see. Under Spanish rule, Lima was the principal city of South America, and for a See also:time was the entrep8t for all the Pacific coast colonies south of See also:Panama.

It became very prosperous during this See also:

period, though often visited by destructive See also:earth-quakes, the most disastrous of which was that of the 28th of See also:October 1746, when the cathedral and the greater part of the city were reduced to ruins, many lives were lost, and the See also:Dort of Callao was destroyed. Lima was not materially affected by the military operations of the See also:war of See also:independence until 1821, when a small See also:army of Argentines and Chileans under General San Martin invested the city, and took See also:possession of it on the 12th of See also:July upon the withdrawal of the Spanish forces. San Martin was proclaimed the See also:protector of Peru as a free See also:state on the 28th of July, but resigned that See also:office on the loth of See also:September 1822 to avoid a fratricidal struggle with Bolivar. In See also:March 1828 Lima was again visited by a destructive earthquake, and in 1854—1855 an epidemic of yellow See also:fever carried off a great number of its inhabitants. In See also:November 1864, when a hostile Spanish See also:fleet was on the coast, a See also:congress of South See also:American plenipotentiaries was held here to See also:concert See also:measures of mutual See also:defence. Lima has been the principal sufferer in the many revolutions and disorders which have convulsed Peru under the See also:republic, and many of them originated in the city itself. During the earlier part of this period the capital twice See also:fell into the hands of foreigners, once in 1836 when the Bolivian general See also:Santa Cruz made himself the See also:chief of a Bolivian-Peruvian See also:confederation, and again in 1837 when an invading force of Chileans and Peruvian refugees landed at Ancon and defeated the Peruvian forces under President Orbegoso. The city prospered greatly under the two administrations of President Ramon Castilla, who gave Peru its first See also:taste of See also:peace and See also:good government, and under those of Presidents Balta and Pardo, during which many important public improvements were made. The greatest calamity in the See also:history of Lima was its occupation by a Chilean army under the command of General Baquedano after the bloody defeat of the Peruvians at Miraflores on the 15th of January 1881. Chorrillos and Miraflores with their handsome See also:country residences had already been sacked and burned and their helpless residents murdered. Lima escaped this See also:fate, thanks to the intervention of foreign See also:powers, but during the two years and nine months of this occupation the Chileans systematically pillaged the public edifices, turned the old university of San Marcos into See also:barracks, destroyed the public library, and carried away the valuable contents of the Exposition palace, the See also:models and apparatus of the medical school and other educational institutions, and many of the monuments and See also:art treasures with which the city had been enriched. A forced contribution of $1,000,000 a See also:month was imposed upon the See also:population in addition to the revenues of the See also:custom See also:house.

When the Chilean See also:

garrison under See also:Captain See also:Lynch was withdrawn on the 22nd of October 1883, it took 3000 wagons to carry away the See also:plunder which had not already been shipped. Of the government palace and other public buildings nothing remained but the See also:bare walls. The buoyant character of the people, and the sympathy and assistance generously offered by many civilized nations, contributed to a remarkably speedy recovery from so great a misfortune. Under the direction of its keeper, See also:Don See also:Ricardo See also:Palma, 8315 volumes of the public library were recovered, to which were added valuable contributions from other countries. The portraits of the Spanish viceroys were also recovered, except five, and are now in the portrait gallery of the Exposition palace. The poverty of the country after the war made recovery difficult, but years of peace have assisted it. See Mariano F. Paz Soldan, Diccionario geogrdfico-estadistico del Peru (Lima, 1877) ; Mateo Paz Soldan and M. F. Paz Soldan, Geografia del Peril (See also:Paris, 1862) ; See also:Manuel A. Fuentes, Lima, or Sketches of the Capital of Peru (See also:London, 1866) ; C. R.

See also:

Markham, Cuzo and Lima (London, 1856), and History of Peru (See also:Chicago, 1892) ; See also:Alexandre See also:Garland, Peru in 1906 (Lima, 19o7); and C. R. Enock, Peru (London, 1908). For earlier descriptions see See also:works referred to under PERU. (A. J.

End of Article: LIMA

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