Just outside of Tacna, we visited the monument of the Campo de la Alianza, site of the battle between allied Peruvian and Bolivian forces and Chile on May 26, 1880, during the War of the Pacific. This war ultimately led to Arica, the town in which I'm living, becoming part of Chile. It is a stunning monument, as you can see in the photos, and there's a nearby cemetery in the middle of the vast desert. What I found really interesting is that many people from Arica have never been there, because, as Gladys told me, for a long time Chileans were not welcomed at the site. It made me wonder about our U.S. Civil War battlefields and how long it was before anyone from either side felt free to visit them. It seems like 1880 was a long time ago, but Gladys said that some of the resentment has only recently subsided.
In her memoir MY INVENTED COUNTRY, Isabel Allende writes about the battle in 1880 for the Arica Promontory, a well-defended cliff which the Chileans stormed and overcame. I wonder if the monument with men falling from a height refers to this battle?
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