Information about the city Huacho
Huacho is a city in Peru, capital of the Huaura Province and capital of the Lima Region. It is located 223 feet (67 metres) above sea level and 148 km north of the city of Lima. The city is located on the Pan-American Highway, and close to the Lomas de Lachay National Park so it has extensive vegetation and wildlife.
Settled on the bottom of a wide bay, its climate is wet and appealing. In the surrounding areas there are rice, cotton, sugarcane and different grain fields. This fact has allowed the rise of a rather important cotton industry, as well as cotton and oil factories. Within its natural landscape, its salt mines and its beaches (such as El Paraíso ) are of great interest. Huacho was one of the main trade centers of northern Lima.
Under the viceroy of Francisco de Toledo, who decided to group the ayllus of the Indians who were established in that area into reductions. The site chosen was that of "Gaucho Bay." Consequently, on 25 August 1571, the reduction was named San Bartolomé de Guachu.
During the Viceroyalty of Peru, the city belonged to the province of Huara and was established as a trading and fishing port. In 1774 the Viceroy José Antonio de Mendoza granted Huacho the category of "pueblo" and with it, allowed it to build its main plaza.
Huacho was, like Huaura, a pueblo that received and hosted the members of the liberation expedition led by José de San Martín, participating on 26 November 1820 of the Grito libertador en el balcéon de Huaura, on the subject of historical verification.
On 12 February 1821, Huacho was elevated to district, belonging to the province of Chanchay, in the department of Lima. The Congress conceded the titale of Fidelísima Villa (most faithful) on 11 April 1828, under the presidency of Don José de La Mar. On 24 January 1830, the province of Chanchay was unified with the province of Lima and Santa in the department of Ancash. Huaura was established as the capital of the province of Chanchay. Thirty years before, on January 23, 1866, Huacho was established as the capital of Chanchay.
Due to its technological advances, in 1892, the city began a city tram service, an animal transportation service called "tranvías de sangre" (blood tram), which was said to have used mules or horses. This service extended to Huara, and was electrified in 1920, making Huacho the first city after Lima to have its own electric tram system.
Beginning in 1911, it was the main hub of the Ferrocarril Noroeste del Perú (Northwestern Train of Peru), which connected Huacho with Ancón, Sayan, and Barranca.
On November 10, 1874, Huacho was elevated to the category of city and was made capital of the province even when it was separated from Chanchay (today the province of Huaral), and the province of Huaura was created. Actually, the city of Huacho was also the capital of the Governal Region of Lima.
Information about the city Abancay
Abancay is a city in southern-central Peru. It is the capital of both the Apurímac Region and the Abancay Province.
Abancay is located at an elevation of 2,377 metres (7,799 ft) above sea level in the southern Peruvian Andes, above the Pachachaca River, and straddles the Marino River. Because of its dry mountain[clarification needed] and famous year-round warm weather it is known as "The Eternal Springtime Valley". The nearest cities are Cusco, Chalhuanca and Andahuaylas. Abancay is located at the junction of two important Peruvian roads: the Caminos del Inca Road, an old road dating from Incan times, between the cities of Nazca and Cusco, and the Via de los Libertadores, connecting Ayacucho and Cusco.
Abancay was already a populated area before the arrival of the Incas. It was the frontier of the Quechua-Inca cultural influence area of the Chancas, an ethnic native group of Peru. Its name comes from a flower native to the region called amankay. When the Spanish arrived, they transliterated the word and named the city Abancay, Villa de los Reyes ("Abancay, Village of the Kings"), which was later reduced to Abancay, its current name. Abancay was the location of the Battle of Abancay between the forces of the Conquistadores Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro. Abancay was mentioned in the first Cronicas (Pedro Cieza de León) as an encomienda dedicated to the cultivation of sugar cane for the production of aguardiente.
There is a traditional tale about the foundation of the city recorded by Guillermo Vidalegut, a local journalist, in his book "Alma y Rostro de Abancay", who, inspired by Ricardo Palma's Tradiciones Peruanas, gathered local traditional stories. As the story goes, during colonial times, the town was located above the valley, in one of the skirts of the Ampay mountain, in a place which is now known as Ccorhuani. One day, the statue of the Virgin Mary known as Our Lady of the Rosary, Patroness of the village, mysteriously disappeared from the local Church. The people, fearing robbery and claiming sacrilege, searched day and night until a shepherd found the statue standing above an immense boulder by the valley. The people believed that the thieves had left the statue in fear of being discovered by the search parties. The statue was returned in a procession back into town. A few weeks later, the same disappearance occurred again and another search ensued. The statue was again found in the same spot where it was found before. Lo and behold, the disappearance happened a third time. The people never understood why or how this was happening. Finally, it was suggested that maybe the statue was asking for a shrine in the valley at the location where it was being found. The town then built a small Chapel there, and it became a place of constant visits by the people. Before long, it became the center of activity, and the entire town was moved to where is located today. The statue of Our Lady of the Rosary still sits above the immense boulder which is located on the right side of the Cathedral.
