Culture

Peruvian culture possesses a lot of variety. It expands from our ancient ancestors, the Incas (or Inkas), to the flavorful Afro-Peruvian culture.

=**The Beginning**= toc

**Some background information...**
Peru is home to the oldest known in Americas, the Norte-Chico civilization. It is one of the six sites where civilization separately originated in the ancient world. Norte-chico is later followed by the cultures of Cupisnique, Chavin, Paracas, Mochica, Nazca, Wari and Chimu. These cultures were all architectural. Last is the Inca civilization, which later became the largest empire of pre-Columbian America.

The Incas native language is Quechua. The language has been lost over the years, but some fluents can still be found around the areas of Cuzco (most of the time, they are shamans).

Although the Incas perished with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, their legacy continues on in some (but scarce) areas of the country:

**Modern-day Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun)**
Incas considered the Sun, the greatest god of the Inca religion. As a result, on June 24th of every year, the Incas celebrated the Inti Raymi in order to honour their god.

The ceremonies lasts 9 days, and used to involve animal sacrifices to guarantee the well-being of the crops.



The festival attracts many tourists and takes place in Sacsayhuaman (fortress of the Incas), Cuzco.

=**The city life**=

The capital of Peru is Lima, it is located right next to the Pacific Ocean and has a population of around 7 million people.Since most businesses prefer to establish themselves in the capital, people from around the country, travel and settle down in Lima, hoping for a better chance at life.



Picture of a part of the capital, located right next to the beach. The area above is called "Magdalena", and the beach is called "La Punta".

La Calle de las Pizza (Pizza Street)


Pizza Street is one of the most visited places of Lima. Its a nice well-known boulevard of night-clubs, bars, restaurants and night-time entertainment.

Pizza Street is loved by tourists and consists of different areas for a variety of musical tastes such as salsa, rock, "pachanga" and live shows.


 * Located in Miraflores*

**Downtown Lima**
Downtown Lima has preserved the baroque look that the Spanish conquistadors brought upon the country. Not only that, downtown Lima is home to the Presidential building (Palacio de Gobierno/Palace of Governance) and a well-known market area.

Presidential building - Lima, Peru



Afro-Peruvians
Afro-Peruvian culture came to be when the Spanish conquistadors began to bring slaves. Now a days, Afro-Peruvians form about 10% of the population and mostly live in the areas of Lambayeque, Piura, Chincha and Cañete.

Afro-Peruvian's music, food and dance are a great part of Peruvian culture. In Peruvian terms, Afro-Peruvian food is called "criolla" and Afro-Peruvian music is called "festejo."



Picture of the Afro-Peruvian dance "El Alcatraz". Both female and male dancers have a cloth attached to their waist and hold lid candles. The dance consists of the male courting the female (and vise versa) by lighting the female's cloth, then the female proceeds to extinguish the fire by only moving her waist. media type="youtube" key="cOktzi4dRzs" height="315" width="420" align="center"

=Works cited (pictures)= http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Inti_Raymi.jpg http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT3B3BJwAdT_u_t55E6muOt-XWwxsbqqzpetDzI1oyADNdTep5sJlYY5DP4xg http://www.peruviaje.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Palacio-de-Gobierno.jpg http://www.teleaire.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/mercado.jpg http://www.americabaila.ch/images/repertorio/Peru/costa/alcatraz%202.jpg