Peru: Destinations : Sierra

Piura

The city of Piura, capital of the department of the same name, is located in the Piura River valley, in the extreme northern part of the Sechura desert. The land is known for its beautiful valleys, deserts, huge coasts, and magnificent bays.  It is a hot land where the summer basically never ends and the carob trees serve two purposes for the locals by offering its fruit and trunk, and also offering a generous amount of shade under which to relax.

The area has an interesting historical past. The most important culture that grew in the region of Piura was the Vicús, which stood out because of its ceramics and delicate gold and silver work.

In 1532, Francisco Pizarro came upon the Tangarara Valley, and the shoreline of the Piura River, where he established the first Spanish City by the name of San Miguel. Later, he moved the city to the high forest of Los Padres (Chulucanas), and then to the port of Paita, before pirates besieged and took over the area, when don Juan de Cadalso definitively founded the actual city of Piura, giving it the name of San Miguel de Piura del Villar. February 4, 1821 proclaimed the independence of Piura. 

The many tourist options offered in the area are concentrated in two places, places created specifically for interests within nature, culture, the humanities, technical/engineering, art, and contemporary science.

In the heart of the commercial region the Cathedral governs the life of the city, where on the high altar you can appreciate works done by painter Ignacio Merino. In front of the Cathedral, in the Plaza de Armas, is the "Pola", the white statue of "La Libertad" that was donated by President Balta in 1870.

A few steps from the Plaza de Armas, in a well guarded building is a museum that was the house where Admiral Miguel Grau was born, the hero of the Battle of Angamos. Here one can feel the sensation as if time had stood still. 
The Municipal Museum of Architecture in Piura and Museum of Religious Arte are also worth seeing. La Paloma de la Paz (The Dove of Peace) was constructed in 1982 by the Piuran sculptor Victor Delfin.