Huaca Pucllana

One evening in Lima my sisters, a couple of cousins, and I went out to dinner at La Huaca Pucllana.

La Huaca Pucllana is a restaurant in Lima's Miraflores district, which overlooks the pre-Inca adobe structure for which the restaurant is named.

 I had been there previously, many years ago, but had not then had the opportunity to dine outside, on the patio, overlooking the huaca itself. 

The huaca Pucllana (also known in older references as the huaca Juliana) is the remains of a 1,500-year old temple complex of the Lima culture, which flourished in the area for centuries before the Yschma,Wari, and later the Incas, left their mark.

It is amazing that such a structure still survives in the midst of a modern city of nearly 11 million inhabitants.  I the early 20th Century, in fact, part of the huaca was destroyed as a brick manufacturer mined it for the clay in its adobe bricks.  Another section was demolished to make room for surrounding streets.

The first exploratory archaeological digs took place at the huaca in 1967. Finally, in 1981 sustained systematic archaeological work was begun, and in 1984 a site museum and "historic-cultural park" were established.  The 37-acre site includes the 75-foot pyramid proper, and a surrounding ceremonial/administrative sector of smaller, interconnected, buildings and courtyards.

 

 

 

 

 Archaeological investigations have revealed that the site likely began as a temple to a sea divinity of the culture we have come to call Lima, in about 500 CE.   From about 800 CE the Wari people used it as a cemetery for their local elites.  After the collapse of Wari civilization in the 12th Century the site temples appear to have fallen into disrepair for some centuries. At various times, until the Spanish rolled into town, the Yschma villagers to repair or shore up portions of the huaca, particularly on the western side, facing the sea --an echo through the centuries of the site's original purpose.

Art in Callao

Last Friday we took a trip to Callao, Lima's port city, where a portion of its old downtown has been being cleaned up and restored bit by bit.  One of the features is an old building, which I am told, was at one time the central post office.  It has an grand hall which crosses from one side of the block to the other, with marble floors and busts of philosophers and artists lining the walls. Above, a beautifully-preserved stained glass ceiling allows in plenty of soft natural light.

The numerous side rooms on the first floor have been turned into spaces for artists to display their work, most of it with an ironic sense of humour or touching on social themes and issues such as environmental degradation, youth culture (basically, hip hop), and so on.

 

 

 

La Mar Cebicheria

 

My plane landed shortly after 4 in the morning, which was a great time as I was able to pretty much breeze through immigration --which can sometimes take a long time, depending on the number of flights arriving in a given hour.  Then, I could get myself settled into the apartment, grab some breakfast --coffee and pan con chicharron, of course-- at a local cafe, get some grocery shopping done, and obtain a local SIM card, and still have a full day ahead of me in which to enjoy being back.

I then headed for lunch to La Mar cebicheria in Miraflores.  Over the last couple of trips this has become a first-day-back ritual for me, with the taste of cebiche serving as a sort of I-really-am-in-Peru marker.

 

  

 

 Naturally, I started with a pisco sour.

 

And, then, since they had urchin available, I went for a Callao-style mixed seafood cebiche with urchin roe.

 

And finished with a pescado a lo macho - fried fish filet topped with a spicy seafood sauce.

Thus fueled, I then continued with my errands for the day.

I'm Back in Lima

 

I'm back in Lima. I've been here for a bit over a week, busy hosting guests, attending family functions, and dealing with a plumbing emergency at the apartment.

That's all done now, and I have some quiet time to get to blogging and other tasks, so here goes: ...

Update

 I have gone through the sidebar at right, removed dead and broken links, and updated the lists a bit. Enjoy exploring them!

For best enjoyment, watch full-screen and use headphones.