Peru Culture

Peru

Peruvian Culture The Nazca people were the architects of the Awesomeness that is the Nazca lines. The lines are a series of drawings across over 50 miles of the southern Peruvian desert, called geoglyphs. They are sort of like hyrogliphs but massive These drawings include the famous monkey, spider, bird, and waving human figure, as well as several other smaller lines and drawings. The drawings are huge, large enough that they can only be made out vaguely from viewing towers. They are best deciphered from the air.

As the Nazca and other coinciding civilizations began to disappear, the mighty Inca rose in Peru. Incan civilization began as a small tribe in the Cuzco valley in the mid 1400s. Cuzco remained the military and political
center of the Incas as it began to expand. In less than a century, the Incan Empire stretched from Colombia all the way down to northwest Argentina. The seat of the Incan emperor, Cuzco became the richest city in the Americas. It was built in the shape of a jaguar, and travelers to Peru can still walk the outline for themselves.

The Incas were successful in their expansion, obviously because of great military skill and planning, but also because they incorporated the best aspects of each culture they conquered into their own.
Peaceful assimilations were common; diplomats would be sent to outside rulers, who would reluctantly consided and send their children to Cuzco to be
educated.

Francisco Pizarro landed on the Pacific shores of the Ecuadorian region in 1532, when his arrival coincided with the end of a destabilizing civil war between two Incan rulers. He and his retinue assassinated Atahualpa “the Incan ruler” and easily took the northern region of the empire. Pizarro continued south to Cuzco and raided the city. The Incas continued to fight fiercely for several years; the lost city of Machu Picchu was one of their last strongholds to fall. The Spanish rule had already begun.

The Incas disappeared as their cities were destroyed, and smallpox and other European diseases swept through the region, but they left behind their inticate stonework and architecture.
The jaguar of Cuzco still rears its head, and Machu Picchu rises through the mists with the sun.

Peruvian Food
CEVICHE
The icy Humboldt Current that flows through the Pacific Ocean just off Peru’s coast supports one of the world’s most bountiful sources of seafood. If Peru had an official national dish, it would probably be this preparation of raw fish marinated in citrus juice. The acid in the fruit “cooks” the fish, giving it a delicate flavor and slightly chewy consistency. The dish is usually spiced with red onion and aji pepper, and served (typically at lunch) with sweet potato or choclo, a white Andean corn with dime-size kernels. Bold gastronomes can drink the leftover citrus marinade, which is known as leche de tigre, tiger’s milk. Rocoto Relleno
This dish is typically associated with Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city, but it is served everywhere. What appears to be a plain-old red bell pepper is actually a fiery Capsicum pubescens (at least ten times as hot as a jalapeño when raw, but boiled to reduce its thermonuclear properties), stuffed with spiced, sautéed ground beef and hard-boiled egg. This is topped with melted white cheese, baked, and served
whole.