According to a popular myth, Lima was born from deception.
Pizarro, the prideful Conquistador, was looking for a land to found his capital, far from the steep peaks of the Andes. An old native suggested him to found it in the Rimac valley, praising its fertile lands and the sea that was close by. The Spaniard, a foreigner in this New World, followed the advice and built his Palace there. He paid a high cost for his credulity: the Rimac was a barren river, that traversed a region of unhealthy climate, with scarce rain and omnipresent dust. Thanks to the ruse of this old man, the Incan Empire would have one final revenge: the kingdom of the Spanish would be forever anchored to a cursed city.
This tale reflects the image that peruvians have of their own capital: a city that is ugly to the core, rotten since birth. An anti-Peru of sorts, inexplicably founded on a desert by greedy and arrogant men.
Why do the limeñans hate their city so much? It is an old sentiment. In 1964, Sebastián Salazar Bondy, a renowned intellectual, wrote the essay Lima, la Horrible, where he described a mediocre city, obsessed with imitation. Its architecture was barely “a copy of a copy”, pathetically attempting to mimic an idealized Europe. Colonial Lima, which was already vanishing, didn’t deserve to be saved.
However, Bondy’s Lima was quite different to that of today. Generation after Generation, the memories of the city became virtually impossible to transmit. Regions which were once countryside had turned into a jungle of concrete, and the old neighborhoods of the city changed their shape countless times.
The Image Collectors
Today, thanks to the endless sharing of images on the internet, the clash between generations has accelerated. Suddenly, that lost Lima has taken shape, and the nostalgics have revealed a city that was unknown to the youngest among them. Old photographs revealed that the busy Larco avenue used to be a countryside trail, and that modern San Borja district was once a plain full of farms and plantations.
In 2007, in the skyscrapercity forums, History lovers shared their family pictures and retold their childhood memories, describing corners of Lima that no longer existed. Together, they rebuilt the old neighborhoods of the city, and sometimes, went out to discover what remained of their memories.
In 2010, with the success of Facebook, more amateur historians found a space to share their passion. Fanpages such as Lima la Única, Lima Antigua o La Lima de mis Abuelos started publishing old pictures of the city. Some limeños contributed with their own archives and memories, and the old city gained a new breath of life.
On that same year, an ambitious project finished transforming the image that the people had of their own city: Lima Milenaria. This initiative, supported by the Municipality, wanted to destroy an old stereotype: Lima had not been founded by the Spaniards. The valley of Rimac had been inhabited for millennia by pre columbian peoples, and the arrival of the Conquistadors was barely a graft to an ancestral community.
The old myth of Pizarro had to be revisited: Lima may not have been a cursed city.
Unearthing the old Lima
Lima Milenaria helped explain the city’s contradictory History. Lima hadn’t been founded in a barren desert. These photographs of massive plantations became more comprehensible: even though cement had drowned the landscape, Lima used to be green. And the pyramids that rose in some of its neighborhoods were mere vestiges of colossal citadels.
This new vision exalted the imagination of the amateur historians. Some started looking for the paths of ancestral water canals, others explored the city for vestiges of old plantation houses. Thanks to their enthusiasm, these amateurs made extraordinary discoveries.
Through old maps, they located the last vestiges of Lima's city wall, hidden among the houses of the Barrios Altos district. Other recognized the mansion of the Perricholi, a famed courtesan, and the Piedra Liza mill in forgotten regions of the city. Today, some are attempting to restore the pre columbian canal of Surco, roaming its forgotten course.
Mobilizing to defend what remains
This passion for investigation and discoveries has had positive consequences. The enthusiasts of Old Lima have realized that their city is in a dreadful state, and have mobilized to defend the heritage that remains.
Little by little, Facebook pages and amateur forums have not only investigated History, but also filed complaints, accusing the government to give too little attention to heritage.
Groups of archaeologists have united to defend the rural neighborhoods of Northern Lima. Marco Gamarra Galindo, photographer, has revealed the tragic destiny of some pyramids that were threatened with demolition.
Javier Lizarburu, the founder of Lima Milenaria, has proven the economic consequences of abandoning the city's heritage: a hollywood film company has recently cancelled the shooting of a biopic in the city because of its urban chaos.
Some parts of Lima have been saved thanks to this pressure: some old streets have become pedestrian, and the boulevards of Rimac are being restored. However, the mobilization of the amateur historians appears to have reached a limit. The heritage they discovered is barely being protected by a city that keeps on growing without giving it the necessary attention.
The dangers of nostalgia
To discover the vestiges of a city is a poetic exercise, which stimulates the imagination. It gives back some personality to average places, and brings vitality to a city that is taken over by routine. However, to live in memories can become a dangerous habit.
Worrisome declarations appear regularly in pages dedicated to Lima’s heritage.
Frustrated by the decay of their city, many amateurs gaze with sadness at the last 70 years. Since the 1940s, Peru has been living through a rural exodus: thousands of peoples from the surrounding provinces have been coming to Lima, looking for a brighter future.
This exodus is the prime reason for Lima’s massive growth, which destroyed its last rural regions. Some reach racist conclusions: immigrants are to blame for Lima's destroyed heritage, because they allegedly despise the city's past.
Because of this, to read webpages dedicated to Lima’s heritage has become a difficult exercice: one has to separate valuable information from abject xenofobia.
However, modern Lima’s society and culture wouldn’t be the same without its immigrants: to deny their existence would be impossible and sterile. Stuck between the ocean and the Andes, Lima won’t stop growing until it fills all the space at its disposal.
This doesn’t have to be seen as a fatality, but as an opportunity to enrich and unite a country that is too divided. The work of the amateur historians of Lima is laudable, but it would be a shame to see their labour sullied by racism.
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