History of Chiclayo

Also known as Ciudad de la Amistad (The City of Friendship) because of the kindness and warmth of its people, Chiclayo is located in a region which was home to important pre-Hispanic cultures, such as the Mochica (1st to 7th centuries A.C.) and the Lambayeque (7th to 10th centuries A.C.) which remains, found in different times and circumstances, continue to amaze the world.

The founding of Chiclayo has not been recorded in Spanish history. It was born in the second half of the 16th century as an Indian town, a place where the merchants carrying wares in the area would stop for a rest. Baptized as Santa Maria en los Valles de Chiclayo, the Franciscan Monastery, the first of its kind built during the Colony has recorded the event.

At present, Chiclayo is a bustling city. Its rich past is complemented by the life of a vigorous population in constant activity, thanks to its trade and its tourist offer. Elsewhere in town there’s the small, attractive chapel of La Veronica on Calle Torres Paz. Built at the end of the nineteenth century, its most notable feature is the altar piece of silver- and gold-leaf. The Plazuela Elias Aguirre , just around the corner from here is a small shady square which has a statue in honour of the comandante of this name, who was a local hero serving the Republicans in the Battle of Angamos.

At weekends, Chiclayo families crowd out to the beaches of Santa Rosa and La Pimentel - each well served by buses from the market area. Santa Rosa is the main fishing village on the Chiclayo coast, from where scores of big, colourful boats go out early every morning, along with the occasional caballito de tortora, reed canoes that have been used here for almost two thousand years. On Sunday afternoons, Chiclayanos congregate for the horseraces at the town’s Santa Victorial Hipodromo, 2km south of the Plaza de Armas just off the Avenida Roosevelt.