Jul
9
A city without a heart…
Almost every city in Peru has a Plaza de Armas or main square. This dates back to the colonial time of the Spanish Conquistadors. The tradition has been continued in new cities as well as old. They’re usually situated in the middle of the city, surrounded by government buildings, churches and other buildings of historic or cultural significance. The plaza is the heart of the city for the locals as well as tourists; many gather after work to meet friends, couples hang out to spend some romantic time together. Often you will find many vendors offering souvenirs along the sidewalk or street food from their carts. Our plaza is not very attractive and is quite run down. It has the requisite church, city hall and a few other government buildings. It’s also surrounded by many restaurants and stores.
Imagine my surprise when, in March of this year they barricaded it and started to demolish it. Essentially leaving Pucallpa without its heart. As you can see, it is not the most spectacular sight in the city. When I went to pick up my driver’s license on Monday, I noticed the tower had been leveled. We are hopeful that they will complete construction soon and give Pucallpa back its heart. I will update the progress in a future post.
Here is what it looked like before demolition:
Here is the state of the plaza, taken about three weeks ago:
