The History of Peru

Peruvian history presents a fascinating example of cultural transfer, cultural clashes, and cultural transformations. In 1532 the western European culture of Spain collided with one of the most sophisticated and highly developed cultures of America: the culture of the Incas. Unlike their brothers in the endless plains of North America, the Incas survived the brutal impact of the Spanish conquest and colonization, and Peru became the cradle of a new mestizo race and culture. Spanish greed and Spanish idealism clashed in colonial Peru with the Incas stubborn need to survive and to preserve their cultural identity. After three centuries of struggle, the result was the birth of a nation that was neither Spanish nor Indian but a unique mixture of the two.

Before your eyes the history of Peru reveals the long and painful process by which two great cultures challenged each other and finally produced a new cycle in the cultural evolution. Imperial Spain and the Incan empire have long since disappeared, but modern Peru (child of the two) today stands confident on the threshold of the future.