Callao-Lima

About Callao-Lima

Callao is Lima's cruise port, about 30 minutes from the Peruvian capital. Ships dock at the new Callao cruise terminal; nearly every passenger moves quickly to Lima proper — the Plaza Mayor, the San Francisco catacombs, the Miraflores clifftops, and the Larco Museum are the classics. Ceviche and pisco sours are the culinary excursion. Overnight calls now allow flights to Cusco and Machu Picchu for longer stays.

• Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to Jorge Chávez International Airport, serving the Lima metropolitan area of over 10 million people just 15 km to the east.
• Founded by the Spanish in 1537, Callao became one of the most important ports in all of Spanish America, through which much of the wealth extracted from the Inca Empire was shipped back to Spain.
• In 1746, a catastrophic earthquake and subsequent tsunami (maremoto) virtually destroyed Callao — the disaster killed thousands and the port had to be entirely rebuilt.
• Callao has a unique constitutional status as a 'Constitutional Province' of Peru, separate from Lima Province since 1857, making it one of the few port cities with its own autonomous provincial government.
• The Real Felipe Fortress in Callao, built after the 1746 tsunami, was one of the most formidable Spanish colonial fortifications in South America and saw some of the last battles of the Peruvian War of Independence.