The Canals of Lima: Landscape and Memory

Abstract

This article examines the ancient irrigation canals in Lima, the capital of Peru, and it reveals the role of indigenous groups who transformed the desert into agricultural valleys over millennia. The current role of the surviving canals is explained, as is their relevance to the city’s environmental sustainability. It discusses aspects related to their management from precolonial times to the present and outlines the key elements of the campaign for their declaration as cultural heritage of Peru, sharing the main results, including the 2019 declaration. It also discusses the work done to decolonize traditional narratives that had obscured the indigenous role in the creation of the canal system.