My dear friend and colleague Pachi was kind enough to take Mom, Gordon, and me on a fantastic personal tour of Arica. Her family has been in the travel and tourism business for years, so she knows everything! The photo you see here shows Arica's main attraction: El Morro ("the steep hill," for lack of a better description). The final blow in the War of the Pacific's Battle of Arica was the taking of El Morro by Chilean forces on June 7, 1880. Until that time, Arica had been part of Peru. Although it functioned as part of Chile for years, Arica was not officially declared a Chilean city until 1929. At that point in time, it is said that people were given the choice to stay in Arica and be Chilean, or move to Tacna (9 miles away) and be Peruvian. I have also heard that many indigenous and poorer people were coerced into going to Peru. These are the bits of "history" I learn from taxi drivers and bartenders!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
El Morro de Arica
My dear friend and colleague Pachi was kind enough to take Mom, Gordon, and me on a fantastic personal tour of Arica. Her family has been in the travel and tourism business for years, so she knows everything! The photo you see here shows Arica's main attraction: El Morro ("the steep hill," for lack of a better description). The final blow in the War of the Pacific's Battle of Arica was the taking of El Morro by Chilean forces on June 7, 1880. Until that time, Arica had been part of Peru. Although it functioned as part of Chile for years, Arica was not officially declared a Chilean city until 1929. At that point in time, it is said that people were given the choice to stay in Arica and be Chilean, or move to Tacna (9 miles away) and be Peruvian. I have also heard that many indigenous and poorer people were coerced into going to Peru. These are the bits of "history" I learn from taxi drivers and bartenders!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment