Lima, it’s my home away from home, and when I am in Peru I live happily near the best parts – in my opinion – of Chorrillos and Barranco. The districts of Chorrillos and Barranco were once the summer escapes of the Limean elites (If your Spanish is pretty good, then I suggest reading a more comprehensive history of Chorrillos here), but they were first home to the pre-Incan Ichma culture. The Ichma were mainly fishermen and they venerated what is now the Morro Solar as their protector and provider. That tradition of fishing still persists today in Chorrillos and their protector is now the Virgen del Morro; a gift from the French during Peru’s Republican era. There is a similar protectorate story in Barranco, La Ermita church is said to have been erected on the site where two (Indian) fishermen, who were about to become the victims of perilous waters and heavy fog, claimed to have seen an illuminated cross which lead them to safety. Beauty and tumult seem to go hand in hand for these two districts, especially for Chorrillos which has suffered the most in terms of war, earthquakes, and public projects gone awry. Its neighbor, Barranco, has been more fortunate in modern times, however, and still maintains much of its historic Bohemian character.
Although the videos below are now a few years old, not in HD quality and only in Spanish, I thought I would share some of the historic and visual reasons as to why I chose Chorrillos as my second home.
