Moquegua
Moquegua region
The Moquegua region is located in the south of Peru. It is one of the smallest in the Inca country. However, the enormous warmth of its people will make you feel comfortable from the moment you arrive.
During the Early Horizon, the region was assimilated by the Pucará culture; in the Middle Horizon, by the Wari and Tiahuanaco cultures. Later, the Aymara kingdoms dominated. Over the years, the entire region came under the rule of the Inca Empire. Around 1540, more or less, the first Spaniards arrived in search of lands to settle. One of the thirteen from Gallo Island, Juan de la Torre, led the domination between the mountains of Huaynaputina and Tixan. With the founding of the city of Moquegua (1541) and the settlement of its first Spanish families, Caleta de Ilo (today the port of Ilo) was also created there in 1713, which suffered the arrival of many pirate ships including Francis Drake; several mills were established to process the wheat of the region. Moquegua distinguished itself in the struggle for independence and for this reason it was given the title of city (January 9, 1823). A Moquegua hero, Marshal Domingo Nieto, fought bravely in the battles of Junín and Ayacucho.
After the Independence of Peru, the administrative division of the country was preserved in the same way as in the colony with minimal changes, and thus Moquegua went from being one of the Repartimientos of the Intendancy of Arequipa to being one of the seven Provinces of the Department of Arequipa, a situation that was maintained until the 1830s, when due to internal disputes in Peru and the Bolivian intervention of Santa Cruz in the politics of Peru and the formation of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, the towns of Moquegua, Locumba, Tacna and Arica declared themselves in favor of joining the Upper Peruvian provinces. However, it was decided to create a new Department in Southern Peru, the so-called Litoral Department with the then Arequipa provinces of Arica and Tarapacá. Once the confederation was dissolved, this new department was dissolved, and later reorganized by adding the Province of Moquegua, becoming the Department of Moquegua.
During the War of the Pacific, the region endured the Chilean incursion, which destroyed people and buildings.