Template:Wp-Arequipa-History

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The early inhabitants of the modern-day Arequipa area were nomads who relied on fishing as well as hunting and gathering for survival. Later, pre-Inca cultures domesticated llamas and became sedentary with the rise of agriculture. Terraces used for crop irrigation were built on both sides of the Chili River valley. The Yarabaya and Chimbe tribes settled in the city's current location, and together with the Cabana and Collagua tribes they developed an agrarian economy in the valley.^[1]

When the Inca Mayta Cápac arrived in the valley of the Chili river, he didn't build cities. Instead, through the mitma policy, he forced the resettlement of his subjects to solidify control of existing territories, conduct intelligence duties, and strengthen border enclaves to control unconquered villages. A Hispanic version of the events, detailed by chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega, which has been described as historically inaccurate, suggests that around 1170 Huayna Capac stopped in the Chili River valley with his army, calling the area Ari qepay which means "Let's stay here." Lands were then distributed among 3,000 families who founded communities such as Yanahuara, Cayma, Tiabaya, Socabaya, and Characato, all of which are districts in Arequipa today.

On 15 August 1540, Spanish lieutenant Garcí Manuel de Carbajal named the cluster of Native American villages in the area "Villa de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora del Valle Hermoso de Arequipa". At the time of its foundation, Arequipa already had a city council because Carbajal also led relocation efforts for an existing coastal city named Villa Hermosa de Camana. The name was shortened to Villa Hermosa de Arequipa. Charles V of Germany and I of Spain gave the town a status of 'city' by Royal Decree on 22 September 1541. The relocation efforts were led by Garcí Manuel de Carbajal, who was selected as the political authority for the foundation of the new town. Among the first public works carried out in the city are the Main Church, the City Hall, the bridge on the Chili River and the monastery of Nuestra Señora de Gracia.

Since the Spanish founding of Arequipa, the mostly Spanish population retained heavy loyalty to the Spanish crown, a phenomenon called fidelismo. Among its most notable proponents were Francisco de Paula Quiroz, Mariano de Rivero, Nicolás Fernández, and José Miguel de Lastarria. In 1805, the Spanish Monarchy gave the city the title of Faithful by Royal Charter. Because of its distance from other Peruvian cities, Arequipa was not heavily influenced by libertarian movements^[2] In 1814, Mateo Pumacahua's pro-independence troops only briefly occupied Arequipa. The city would remain under Spanish control until the Battle of Ayacucho (1824), due to struggles for local political power.

Arequipa's strategic location at the crossroads of the colonial silver trade route and that of the post-independence wool trade route allowed the city to emerge as an administrative, commercial, and industrial hub.^[3] In the decade following Peru's 1821 declaration of independence from Spain, society in Arequipa and Peru at-large was in transition. Thus, Arequipa not only became the birthplace of notable political figures but also the site of key political movements that helped defend the legal and economic stability of the city; thus elevating Arequipa to a status second only to its rival city and the capital, Lima.

On 13 January 1835, President Luis José de Orbegoso moved his government from Lima to Arequipa by presidential decree. Meanwhile, in Lima, General Felipe Santiago Salaverry named himself Supreme Chief of the Republic, arguing that the country was leaderless as Orbegoso was outside the capital. Orbegoso then sought support from Bolivian president Andrés de Santa Cruz against the claims of Salaverry. On 4 February 1836, Salaverry's Army of Reunification won a battle at Uchumayo. However, three days later in Socabaya, Salaverry surrendered to Santa Cruz On 18 February 1836, Salaverry and his nine officers were shot in the main square of the city.

After expressing their rejection to the Peru–Bolivian Confederation, the Chilean government sent a military expedition that arrived in Arequipa on 12 October 1837. To avoid military conflict, negotiations led to a peace treaty signing in Paucarpata, a small town near Arequipa on 17 November 1837. In the following years, the city was the site of uprisings and successive military coups, which ended with the victory of forces led by Miguel de San Román against the army of Manuel Ignacio de Vivanco in the Battle of Paucarpata on 29 June 1857. Around this time, Arequipa gained prominence as a center of business and trade, focused in agricultural products and the production of wool, sometimes through exploitation of peasants.

On 31 August 1882, following the occupation of Lima during the War of the Pacific, President Lizardo Montero Flores arrived in Arequipa and declared it the capital of Peru. On 22 April 1883, Montero installed a National Congress which was located at Independence College, also counting military support from a local army and important financial support from quotas and taxes coming from the economic elite and the southern agricultural districts.^[4] However, on 25 October 1883, a popular uprising overthrew the government of President Montero, who managed to escape to La Paz. Four days later, with support from city authorities, Chilean troops occupied Arequipa until August 1884.^[5]

The Republican Era brought many improvements to the city's infrastructure and economy. The Southern Railroad built by Henry Meiggs connected Arequipa with the port city of Mollendo in 1871 and with Cuzco and Juliaca in 1876. In 1908, the first telegraph system in the Arequipa region connected Mollendo, Arequipa and Vitor. In 1914, the city built its first drinking water supply system as well as an aqueduct. In 1940, the city's international airport, Alfredo Rodriguez Ballon, was opened.

In 2000, the historic center of Arequipa was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. However, on 23 June 2001, an 8.4-magnitude earthquake damaged several historical buildings.

City symbols

On 22 December 1540, King Charles I of Spain elevated Arequipa to the rank of city by royal decree, awarding it a coat of arms on which a mythical animal carries a banner inscribed with Karlos V or Del Rey.^[6]

Historians debate the origin of the crimson flag of the city. By 1940, several historians, most notably Francisco Mostajo and Victor M. Barriga, confirmed the royal origin of the crimson color of the flag, contrary to a blue banner which historian Victor Benavente hypothesized to be the original. This matches the color that local sports organizations use. On 2 September 1940, Francisco Mostajo sent a letter to the Mayor of the City to explain his views regarding the color of the Banner of Arequipa, basing his claims on the 'Act of the Oath of King Carlos III " of 11 August 1788. On 23 September of the same year, Father Victor M. Barriga also published an important document in the Catholic newspaper El Deber that contains a description of the royal standard of Arequipa found in the "Act of 3 September 1789".

The city anthem is Fourth Centenary Anthem. Lyrics and music were composed by Emilio Pardo Valle and Aurelio Diaz Espinoza, who won a 1939 contest which the city council organize to dedicate a new anthem. Since then, the song has been sung at all important civic events held in the city.