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Category Archives: History

Peruvian Pisco’s 400-year history on exhibit in historic Lima

By Fertur Peru Travel | Published: May 8, 2013

Four hundred years ago, on April 30, 1613, Pedro Manuel, a prosperous merchant from Peru’s Ica Valley, signed his last will and testament. Manuel was the owner of a general store that sold a wide variety of products. Among them — listed as part of his estate — were more than 100 mud-ceramic containers and jars [...]

Also posted in Ica, Lima, News | Tagged free museum exhibit, pisco | Leave a comment

Visit Sacsayhuaman to ponder an awesome megalithic mystery

By Fertur Peru Travel | Published: April 29, 2013

☼ Inca Tours and Travel Adventures ☼ Visit Cusco and you can witness one of the greatest structures ever erected, the Inca fortress temple of Sacsayhuaman. This titanic feat of megalithic architecture has astounded observers from the time of the Spanish Conquest to the present day. Pedro Sancho wrote in 1534 of Sacsayhuaman that “neither [...]

Also posted in Cusco, Destinations | Tagged cusco tourist information, cusco tours, Inca architecture | Leave a comment

A history travel must: tour Cusco’s Koricancha Sun Temple

By Fertur Peru Travel | Published: April 17, 2013

☼ Inca Tours and Travel Adventures ☼ In Quechua “Koricancha” (aka Coricancha or Qoricancha) means “courtyard of gold” — and to the utter amazement of the Spanish Conquistadors, that’s exactly what they beheld when they first laid eyes on the glimmering temple complex. The massive, gold plated walls caught the rays of the setting sun. [...]

Also posted in Cusco, Destinations | Tagged cusco tourist information, cusco tours | Leave a comment

Alternative Lima Tour: Royal Felipe Fortress

By Fertur Peru Travel | Published: April 10, 2013

Towering over the seafront at Lima’s Port of Callao is the Royal Felipe Fortress — a monument of 18th century military architecture well worth visiting with a knowledgeable guide. Its star-shaped bastion towers and lookout posts, deep dungeons and elegant salons were built in honor of King Philip V. For more than a century, Peru’s [...]

Also posted in Destinations, Family Travel, Lima | Tagged fortaleza del Real Felipe, Military History Museum, Royal Philip Fortress | Leave a comment

Lima’s legendary leaping monk saves drowning man

By Fertur Peru Travel | Published: April 2, 2013

For 26 years, Fernando Canchari, a professional diver, has reenacted the legendary lovelorn leap of Friar Francisco, who jumped to a watery death rather than be separated from the love of his life, the beautiful Clara. But early on Easter Sunday, when Canchari dove into the torrid Pacific waters, it was not for the usual [...]

Also posted in Lima, News, Travel Photography | Leave a comment

The chequered origins of chess in Peru: the Inca emperor turned pawn

By Rick Vecchio | Published: March 13, 2013

The first native South American to learn and master the game of chess was the Inca Atahualpa — taught by his Spanish executioners. As you’ll recall, after being taken hostage in one of history’s most brazen ambushes, the Inca ruler offered his kidnappers “a room filled with gold as high as their arms could reach” [...]

Also posted in Books on Peru | Tagged Atahualpa, chess, chess in Peru, Inca ransom, Peruvian Traditions, Ricardo Palma, Tradiciones peruanas | Leave a comment

Happy National Pisco Sour Day!

By Rick Vecchio | Published: February 1, 2013

Let’s everyone raise a glass to toast Peru’s signature cocktail on this first Saturday of February: National Pisco Sour day. It was expat American Victor V. Morris who is now generally acknowledged as having invented the ingeniously delectable concoction of pisco grape spirits, Peruvian lime juice, sugar syrup, egg white and a dash of bitters. [...]

Also posted in Events, News, Nostalgia, Peruvian Cuisine | Tagged inventor of Pisco Sours, Victor Morris | 1 Comment

The wisdom and wisecracks of Inca Pachacutec

By Rick Vecchio | Published: January 23, 2013
Also posted in Cusco, Inca Trail, Machu Picchu | Tagged Inca astronomy, Inca Cosmovision, Inca proverbs, Inca wisdom, Pachacutec, Pachacuti | Leave a comment

Anti-bullfighting activists in Lima demand an end to the traditional blood sport

By Fertur Peru Travel | Published: November 4, 2012

Dozens of anti-bullfighting activists, known as “antitaurinos” in Spanish, protested this weekend in the Plaza San Martin demanding Peru ban what they consider a senseless and cruel blood-sport. Semi-nude, the demonstrators lay prone on the ground, with fake blood spattered across their bodies and fake barbed spears, called bandilleras, taped to their backs. They carried [...]

Also posted in News | Tagged animal cruelty in Peru, bullfighting, Plaza de Acho | Leave a comment

Andean conceptions of the afterlife

By Fertur Peru Travel | Published: October 29, 2012

There is much debate to what extent Halloween and Day of the Dead originated in paganism. In the spirit of that discussion — since Halloween is upon us —  we present a very brief ethnohistoric examination of Peru, where mortuary rituals and beliefs in the afterlife existed long before the arrival of the Spanish and [...]

Also posted in Art & Culture | Tagged Andean afterlife, ghosts, spirits, Spirituality | Leave a comment