The city also has much of the best of what the Spaniards brought with them. The old historic centre, or La Ciudad de los Reyes, “The City of Kings”, as they proudly called their new city, has recently been cleaned and restored to show off the cathedral and other colonial gems.
Yet one telling instance of how Lima has changed came just a few years ago, when the city fathers decided to remove the only remaining public statue of Francisco Pizarro, the leader of the conquistadors and the city’s founder, and replace it with the flag of the Quechua “Inca Nation”. Peruvians now like to define themselves by the pre-Columbian past that makes them the most ancient civilisation on the continent – and, these days, one of the most prosperous.
Hugh Thomson is the author of The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland. In July he is leading a tour for Journey Latin America (www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk; 020 8747 8315) to Peru to mark the 100th anniversary of Hiram Bingham’s “discovery” of Machu Picchu. The tour includes Cusco and the Sacred Valley as well as more remote northern areas. The 14-night tour departs on July 13 and costs £4,328 per person, based on two people sharing. The price includes flights, mid-range accommodation, airport transfers, guided excursions and breakfast daily.