Avenida Emancipación

Emancipation Avenue ( es, Avenida Emancipación; Avenida de la Emancipación), formerly known as Jirón Arequipa and Jirón Riva-Agüero, is a major avenue in the Damero de Pizarro, located in the historic centre of Lima, Peru. The street starts at its intersection with the Jirón de la Unión and continues until it reaches the Plaza Ramón Castilla. It is continued to the east by Jirón Cuzco, formerly part of the avenue.

History

The road that today constitutes the street was laid by Francisco Pizarro when he founded the city of Lima on January 18, 1535. In 1862, when a new urban nomenclature was adopted, the road was named jirón Arequipa. Prior to this renaming, each block (''cuadra'') had a unique name:
*Block 1: Minería, after the Royal Mining Court, established there in 1786.
*Block 2: Mármol de Carvajal, after Francisco de Carvajal, who lived there, who rebelled against the King of Spain and was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Jaquijahuana. In condemnation of his betrayal, his plot was razed and an infamous marble tombstone was placed. It was later called Calle de los Gallos, the origin of this name being unknown.
*Block 3: San Marcelo, after the church of the same name.
*Block 4: Pregonería, after the establishment (a place where public auction sales of both property and merchandise had been carried out since the 16th century) of the same name. The ''Casa de Beltrán'' was located here, named after its owner, Pedro Beltrán Espantoso, owner of the disappeared '' La Prensa''. It was the last home to be demolished.
*Block 5: Patos, for reasons unknown.
*Block 6: Ranchería del Pato, after the previous block and its rustic homes.
*Block 7: Pampilla de Leones.
*Block 8: Huaripampa.
*Block 9: Minas.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the ' was located on its first block, a café that brought together among its regulars several figures from the intellectual life of Lima at that time, such as Abraham Valdelomar, José Carlos Mariátegui and César Vallejo.

At the beginning of the 1970s, during the military government of Juan Velasco Alvarado, a plan was executed that consisted of widening the old Jirón Arequipa, which until then was an old road that preserved its narrow shape since colonial times. In 1971, the controversial widening of the avenue began, demolishing old houses that were located in the northern part of the strip.

The avenue hosts the ''Casa Echenique'', a building that once housed Carvajal, and later housed president José Rufino Echenique, Pío Tristán and Paul Gauguin (until the age of seven), all of the same family. Despite its declaration as part of the Cultural heritage of Peru on February 15, 1983, and the façade remaining intact, a large part of the interior is in ruin after it was demolished to make way for a gallery. A project by PROLIMA was announced in 2023, which aims to restore the former architecture of the house's interior.

See also

* Historic Centre of Lima
* Jirón Cuzco
* Jirón de la Unión (Metropolitano), located on the avenue
* Tacna (Metropolitano)

References

Bibliography

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{{Lima streets
Historic Centre of Lima
Emancipación
Lima District