The Tacna Prefecture, also known as the Tacna Intendancy, is a building located in the homonymous city in

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 was built and used by

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

under its administration of its former

Tacna Province Tacna is the largest of four provinces in the Department of Tacna in southern Peru located on the border with Chile and Bolivia. Its capital is Tacna. Geography The Tacna Province is bounded to the north by the Jorge Basadre Province and the Ta ...

until its return to Peru in 1929.

History

The building was built between 1905 and 1909, as originally indicated on the top of the building. It was built based on quarry stone extracted from the Arunta and Intiorko hills. During the Chilean administration, the

Coat of arms of Chile The coat of arms of Chile dates from 1834 and was designed by the English artist Charles Wood Taylor (1792–1856). It is made up by a figurative background divided in two equal parts: the top one is blue and the bottom, red. A five pointed whit ...

was carved in the sector located on Blondell Street. The prefecture was known as the Intendancy (since it was where the office of the intendants of Tacna was located) and was also a prison, the Court of Appeals, the Court of First Instance, the main administration of the Post Office, among other faculties associated with the political authority of Chile in the region. When Tacna rejoined Peru in 1929, the building continued to be used for administrative purposes by the new Peruvian administration. The building's façade, was changed, with changes including the removal of the Chilean shield and the inscription that showed the date of the construction of the enclosure. In that place of the building the Coat of arms of Peru was built with the same material, in addition, the text "Correo" was replaced by "Gobernación". The building of the Prefecture of Tacna was declared a historical monument of Peru on August 24, 1980, during the government of Fernando Belaúnde Terry.

Fire

On October 30, 2008, in the context of the protests against the Mining Canon Law, there were blockades and destruction of state premises and public entities in the city. Hundreds of demonstrators took over the facilities of the Government of Tacna, and the governor, Raúl Urbiola Hani, fled through the back of the building climbing walls to escape the mob. The group of people who were protesting in front of the prefecture's premises set fire to a piece of furniture. The fire destroyed everything that was inside the second and first floors, leaving it in its current state of ruins and of which only the façade built with stonemasonry remains.

Reconstruction

To this day, the Peruvian Government has not rebuilt the property. The Ministry of Culture made three observations to the proposal of the Provincial Municipality of Tacna, indicating that the original internal infrastructure must be maintained despite the fact that it collapsed.

Gallery

File:Salón comedor de la Intendencia de Tacna.png, Dining hall in 1910 File:Retrato de familia no identificada en la Intendencia de Tacna.png, Unknown family in the building File:Interior Salón, Intendencia de Tacna.png, A room File:Interior salón, Intendencia de Tacna.png, Another room File:Intendencia de Tacna, Chile.jpg, The building's exterior in 1910 File:Edificio de la intendencia, Corte de Apelaciones, Juzgado de Letras y administración principal de Correos, Tacna, Chile, 1913.png, Ditto, 1913 File:Intendencia de Tacna, Chile, 1922.png, Ditto, 1922 File:Intendencia de Tacna, Chile, 1929.jpg, Ditto, hours before Tacna's return to Peru

References

{{coord missing, Peru Buildings and structures in Tacna Region