Arequipa Avenue ( es, Avenida Arequipa), formerly known as Leguía Avenue ( es, Avenida Leguía), is one of the main avenues of

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. It extends from north to south in the districts of

, Lince, San Isidro and Miraflores along 52 blocks. It has a bike path located along its entire central berm. Before the implementation of the , the avenue was the seventh most congested road in Lima due to the excessive circulation of public transport units.

History

The avenue began to be opened at the beginning of the 20th century as a dividing avenue between the

Campo de Marte Campo de Marte Airport is the first airport built in São Paulo, Brazil, opened in 1929. It is named after Champ de Mars, in Paris, which in turn got its name from Campus Martius, in Rome. During a transitional period, the airport is jointly o ...

and the

Parque de la Reserva The Parque de la Reserva (English: ''Park of the Reserve'') is a park located in downtown Lima, in Peru. Built in an irregular shape, it is located between two of the city's principal streets, the Paseo de la Republica expressway and Arequipa Aven ...

. In its beginnings, it was the road that linked Lima with the resorts of Barranco and Miraflores. It was designed by the Peruvian architect Augusto Benavides Diez Canseco.

Leguía Avenue

Leguía Avenue was created as an integrating axis with the Miraflores ''

balneario A balneario (Portuguese spelling: balneário) is an Iberian and Latin American resort town, typically a seaside resort, and less commonly along the shores of lakes and rivers or next to hot springs. In Spain, balneario typically only refers to spa ...

'', which was already growing as a town, and as a guideline to guide the urban expansion that the capital city was experiencing. Its physiognomy full of gardens and large houses marked it as one of the most aristocratic roads in the city, although a large part of its route still took place between fields of crops.

Arequipa Avenue

After the overthrow of Leguía by

Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro (August 12, 1889 – April 30, 1933) was a high-ranking Peruvian army officer who served as the 41st President of Peru, from 1931 to 1933 as well as Interim President of Peru, officially as the President of the Pro ...

, the avenue was named ''Avenida de la Revolución''. However, due to its insurgent character, it was decided to rename the avenue, but this time with the name of the city from where the Sánchez Cerro uprising was led:

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara and qu, Ariqipa) is a city and capital of province and the eponymous department of Peru. It is the seat of the Constitutional Court of Peru and often dubbed the "legal capital of Peru". It is the second most populated city ...

. But over the years, the large houses gradually disappeared and the residential air of the avenue was replaced by a large commercial activity among which the educational offer stands out since the avenue houses a large number of pre-university academies, regular schools, institutes of higher education and even universities.

References

{{Lima streets