Jirón Áncash is a major

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...

in the

Damero de Pizarro The Cercado de Lima ('Walled Lima'), Damero de Pizarro ('Pizarro's Checkerboard'), or Lima Cuadrada ('Squared Lima') is an area of the Historic Centre of Lima, historic center of Lima (capital of Peru) located within the Walls of Lima, old wall ...

, located in the

historic centre of Lima The Historic Centre of Lima () is the historic city centre of the city of Lima, the capital of Peru. Located in the city's districts of Lima and Rímac, both in the Rímac Valley, it consists of two areas: the first is the Monumental Zone est ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. The street starts at its intersection with the Jirón de la Unión at the

Puente de Piedra The Bridge of Stone () is a 17th-century bridge in Lima, Peru, that connects the districts of Lima and Rímac, both part of the city's historic centre. Built by architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construc ...

, and continues until it reaches the Óvalo de la Paz.

History

The road that today constitutes the street was laid by

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...

when he founded the city of Lima on January 18, 1535. In the 16th century, the Church of San Francisco was built. An event of repercussion recounted by several chroniclers would happen there. They point out that during the earthquake of 1630, an image of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

turned her face towards the main altar of the church just at the moment the movement stopped. The people of Lima, within their

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, interpreted that the mother of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

turned to see the saint and appease the fury of her son who was causing the

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

. Given this fact, the Miracle Chapel () was built on the same site it occupies now. Likewise, the Colegio Mayor de San Felipe y San Marcos was founded on that road, which would later be refounded in the Convictorio de San Carlos. The San Ildefonso School was also located on that same block. During the 17th and 18th centuries, several monasteries were founded on this road. In 1808, outside the Gate of Wonders (), where this street ended, the Presbítero Maestro Cemetery was built, the first general cemetery in Lima. In 1956, El Ángel Cemetery was built. This motivated the sector of Jirón Áncash where both cemeteries are located to be called ''Cemetery Avenue'' (). PORTADADEMARAVILLAS

In 1862, when a new urban nomenclature was adopted, the road was named jirón Áncash, after the department of Áncash. Prior to this renaming, each block (''cuadra'') had a unique name: *Block 1: Desamparados, after the chapel of the same name. The Bar Cordano is located here. *Block 2: Rastro de San Francisco, because the first animal

slaughterhouse In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...

and the first ''rastro'' (place for selling meat) were located there from the founding of the city until 1568, when for health reasons the slaughterhouse was moved to the San Lázaro neighbourhood but not the ''rastro'', which lasted until the end of the 18th century. *Block 3: San Francisco, after the convent of the same name. It is also the location of the Casa de Pilatos, former residence of the Marquises of San Lorenzo del Vallehumbroso and Colonel Rufino Torrico. *Block 4: Milagro, after the chapel of the same name. It is also the location of

Nicolás de Piérola José Nicolás Baltasar Fernández de Piérola y Villena (known as "''El Califa''" ("The Caliph"); January 5, 1839 – June 23, 1913) was a Peruvian politician and Minister of Finance of Peru, Minister of Finance who served as the 23rd (1879 ...

's house, where he died in 1913, followed by his wife one year later. *Block 5: Cerca de San Francisco, after the fence that limited the orchard that was part of the Convent of San Francisco. It is also home to the Casa de las Trece Monedas, former residence of the counts of Fuente-Pelayo and current headquarters of the National Afro-Peruvian Museum. *Block 6: Colegio Real, because the premises of the Colegio Mayor de San Felipe y San Marcos, founded in 1592, were located there. The construction of this school was started by

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

Francisco de Toledo Francisco Álvarez de Toledo ( Oropesa, 10 July 1515 – Escalona, 21 April 1582), also known as ''The Viceroyal Solon'', was an aristocrat and soldier of the Kingdom of Spain and the fifth Viceroy of Peru. Often regarded as the "best of ...

and completed by García Hurtado de Mendoza. After the 1767 expulsion of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, this school merged with the Convictorio de San Carlos. *Block 7: Trinitarias, after the Trinitarian Church of Lima, founded in 1722. *Block 8: Buenamuerte, after the church of the same name, founded in the 17th century. *Block 9: Santa Clara, after the monastery of the same name, founded in 1606 and where the heart of Turibius of Mogrovejo is buried. *Block 10: Mercedarias, after the monastery of the same name, founded in 1732. *Block 11: San Salvador *Block 12: Refugio, after the hospice of the same name. *Block 13: Maravillas, after the gate that was part of the walls of Lima, itself named after the church of the same name. This long street had three sections: ''Refugio'', ''San Salvador'' and ''Puerta Falsa del Cercado''. In 1868 the Walls of Lima collapsed and with them the gate disappeared. At the end of the 19th century, the Desamparados station was established as the main railway station of the Central Railway that penetrated towards the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

to the city of

Huancayo Huancayo (; in , '(place) with a (sacred) rock', ) is the capital of the Junín Region and Huancayo Province, in the central highlands of Peru, in the Mantaro Valley and is crossed by the Shullcas, Chilca and Mantaro rivers. It was founded as a ...

. In 2005, the former facilities of a colonial house were discovered discovered during excavations for the construction of a building. The area is currently the Bodega y Quadra Museum, a site museum that illustrates the daily life of the locals during the Viceregal era.

References

Bibliography

* {{Lima streets

Ancash Ancash (; ) is a department and region in western Peru. It is bordered by the departments of La Libertad on the north, Huánuco and Pasco on the east, Lima on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, an ...

Lima District Historic Centre of Lima

History

See also

References

Bibliography