. The city of Lima, the capital of Peru, was founded by
Francisco Pizarro on 18 January 1535, and given the name
City of the Kings. Nevertheless, with time its original name persisted, which may come from one of two sources: Either the Aymara language
lima-limaq (meaning "yellow flower"), or the Spanish pronunciation of the
Quechuan word
rimaq (meaning "talker", and actually written and pronounced
limaq in the nearby
Quechua I languages). It is worth nothing that the same Quechuan word is also the source of the name given to the river that feeds the city, the
Rímac River (pronounced as in the politically dominant
Quechua II languages, with an "r" instead of an "l"). Early maps of Peru show the two names displayed jointly. Under the
Viceroyalty of Peru, the authority of the
viceroy as a representative of the
Spanish monarchy was particularly important, since its appointment supposed an important ascent and the successful culmination of a race in the colonial administration. The entrances to
Lima of the new viceroys were specially lavish. For the occasion, the streets were paved with silver bars from the
gates of the city to the
Palace of the Viceroy. The (formerly walled) city's streets were named individually until 1862, when the city adopted the naming project of
Mariano Bolognesi, an idea first proposed by
Manuel Atanasio Fuentes in 1857. South of the river, what would become known as
Union Street was chosen as a divisional axis for the roads that intersected with it, which would be renamed depending on whether they were to the east or west of the street, and would be connected under the name of
jirón (instead of the traditional
calle). The new names that were chosen were those of the country's administrative divisions: Those that ran parallel to the
Rímac River would be named after the country's
departments, while those who ran perpendicular to it would be named after the country's
provinces. In reality, this rule was not strictly followed, with some streets instead taking the name of rivers, or prominent people.
Monumental Zone (1972) On 28 December 1972, the government of Peru designated the old towns of Lima and Rímac districts as Monumental Zones which form part of the
Cultural heritage of Peru through Supreme Decree Nº 2900-72-ED. In 1994, both the
Monumental Zone of Lima and the
Monumental Zone of Rímac were then included in a single area designated by Ordinance Nº 062-94-MML of the
Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, which approved the administrative policy of the city's historic centre. In 1998, the first Master Plan for the city was organised, being applied until 2010. During the 1980s, local textile company Barrington sponsored the placement of custom
street signs featuring the traditional names of several streets in the city's historic centre, as well as a brief description of the name. These succeeded yellow plaques featuring only the names placed during the late 19th century and early 20th century, some of which were recovered in 2018 as part of restoration efforts made by government agency
PROLIMA to restore the original colours of buildings' façades. In 2021, coinciding with the
Bicentennial of the Independence of Peru, new yellow plaques were placed around the city, which also include each street's former name alongside its description, alongside steel signs featuring their block numbers, as well as informative totem signs.
World Heritage Site (1988) In 1988,
UNESCO declared the historic centre of Lima a
World Heritage Site for its originality and high concentration of historic monuments constructed during the viceregal era, with its boundaries being significantly modified in 1991. In 2021, as part of renovation works made in preparation for the
bicentennial celebrations of that year, the
Metropolitan Municipality of Lima installed 206 different
QR codes across different landmarks of the centre that, when scanned, open a video that details the selected building's history. On 18 January 2024, the city's 489th anniversary, president
Dina Boluarte announced a "special regime" that targets the area in order to allow restoration and repair works to take place. On 17 January 2025, the municipal authorities relaunched
Lima, Ciudad de los Reyes, a
patronage aimed at the promotion of the restoration of the city's cultural heritage sites. ==List of sites==