According to John Chasteen:
Lima and the Pacific coast constitute a historically important side of Peru, much less known than the country’s spectacular Andean highlands. Only in recent years have migrants from the highlands begun to give their own flavor to parts of coastal Peru. Historically, Lima and the coast were a land apart from highland culture with its predominantly indigenous tone. Coastal Peru, in contrast, was the location of colonial sugar plantations, worked by African slaves and owned by wealthy white Creoles. Together with the city of Lima, coastal Peru has traditionally been criollo Peru, more black-and-white than indigenous. The folk music and accents of coastal Peru sound different from their highland counterparts. Lima, dubbed the City of Kings, was the second most important Spanish city in America, or even, during the 1600s, the most important—a densely constructed, walled complex of buildings that in 1823 was the last viceregal capital to lower the Spanish flag in America.
Questions for Analysis and Further Reflection:
What led Spaniards to choose Lima as a seat of the Spanish empire in America, and what allowed them to maintain it as one of the two most important cities during the colonial period? What colonial administrative institutions were established in Lima, and what were the broad boundaries of their jurisdiction on the continent?
José O Solá