Lima in the 1870s: a city for the fiftieth anniversary of independence of Peru

Abstract

The first great attempt of urban transformation of Lima in its republican history was performed in the 1870s, a situation that coincided with the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of Peru. This essay testifies to these changes, such as the destruction of the viceroyalty wall and the provision of lands for wide avenues, squares, new residential neighborhoods and modern public spaces, including the Parque de la Exposición and the Palacio de la Exposición. It also analyzes the main celebratory activity of the symbolic event, as was the Great Exhibition of 1872. The study ends with the conversion of the Palacio de la Exposición into the new headquarters of the National Museum, the collection of which was to serve as a vehicle for the construction of a national identity.