DOORS OF SOUTH AMERICA HOME JAMES M. WISE PERU PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTIONS SOUTH AMERICA PLACES TO VISIT YANIRA K. WISE

SEPTEMBER´S FEATURED DOOR OF THE MONTH – LIMA – PERU

September 3, 2018 SouthAmerica

The doors of Lima are those which conquistadors, viceroys, pirates, merchants, presidents, revolutionaries, a new world scientist and naturalist, slaves, military, clergy, mining magnets, hacienda owners, and politicians have walked through.

The Historic Center of Peru’s capital city Lima dates back to when the city was founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro. This colonial city rapidly developed around its major attraction the Plaza Mayor which was a classic element of Spanish territories. Many of the buildings surrounding the plaza today are from the time of their foundation, while others were built the nineteenth century.

Lima is known by historians as the “City of Kings” or “La Ciudad de los Reyes” as it once was the most important city of the Spanish Monarchy. As such the traditional buildings in the city still show their rich legacy. Many of the colonial homes are distinct with wooden balconies, arches, and influences from Parisian architecture.

In Lima you can find the oldest casa (house) in the Americas the Casa de Aliaga. This house has been in the same family since 1535. It belonged to Jeronimo de Aliaga who was appointed by Pizarro to be his Majesty’s accountant in the territories of Nueva Castilla. Francisco Pizarro granted him this property to better fulfill his work. Some historians have established that this property original belonged to the last Inca Curaca or Cacique named Taulichusco until the day of the Conquista when he was stripped of his property. The Casa de Aliaga is open to tourists, to find out more on this visit La Casa de Aliaga

Lima has gone through the agonies of time, revolution, invasion, recessions, boom time, reforms, terrorism, and revitalization. All while weathering in the hyper-arid yet perpetually humid coastal plains facing the Pacific Ocean. The city has evolved into an economic boom with a growing population which is creating chaos. For more on Lima look at this post “Disappearing Historic Lima.”

The old homes that were erected from wealth and affluence are now battered by poverty and protests. Those old buildings were fortunately built of thick materials designed for social strife and are still standing. The massive old doors of historic Lima tend to appear as smaller versions of cathedral doors with arched tops, trims, carved features, and iron fixtures. Most are somber with dark brown stain or paint. These old doors come in a context to two-storied buildings that have their distinct Spanish design. They are facing narrow streets congested with chaotic traffic, the bustle of pedestrians, street vendors, smoking buses, honking taxis, and they have seen their share of military vehicles and police patrols imposing a partial order. Lima 100 shows the changes the city has moved through these last two decades, documents subsets of different preserved eras recorded in the buildings and parks. It shows the range of colors present in an otherwise often dreary appearing place.

All walks of life negotiate their way through the historic doors of Lima. While the cathedral doors are the massive, of an imposing variety, the more humble time-worn entrances perhaps conceal more vivid experiences, and this is what we present to you today.