San Lorenzo ( Spanish Isla San Lorenzo ) is an island off the coast of Peru , in the immediate vicinity of the cities of Callao and Lima . The area is only 16.5 km², but it is the largest island in the country. Length - 8 kilometers, width - 2 kilometers. Here is one of the main bases of the naval forces of Peru .
| San lorenzo | |
|---|---|
| Spanish Isla san lorenzo | |
 Satellite image of Lima, capital of Peru, and the island of San Lorenzo | |
| Specifications | |
| Square | 16.48 km² |
| Highest point | 396 m |
| Population | 0 pax |
| Location | |
| Water area | Pacific Ocean |
| A country |
|
| Region | Callao |
Near San Lorenzo there are several more small islands - El Fronton and the Palomino cliffs, known for their large populations of sea lions . The highest point is Cerro La Mina, 396 meters. There are no sources of drinking water on the island, so until recently there were no infrastructure or settlements on its territory.
By the decree of President Andrés Avelino Cáceres of 1899, he was subordinated to the Callao region, forming a separate uninhabited area (one of a kind in Peru ).
History
Residents of ancient Peru used the island as a cemetery. In the mythology of the tribes of the central Peruvian coast, the sea islands were associated with the afterlife.
In the colonial era, stones were mined from quarries on the island that were used to build some of the buildings of Callao and Lima, for example, the fortress of King Philip . At the same time, the island was a haven of pirates, including Francis Drake and . The latter was buried here.
In 1835, Charles Darwin visited the island, he explored its geology and nature.
After one of the unsuccessful battles of the First Pacific War in 1866, the Spanish fleet retreated to this island, where the Spaniards buried the dead and rebuilt ships before leaving the Peruvian coast.
In 1906-1907, Max Ule carried out excavations on the island, his finds were metal objects and funeral bales of the middle and late pre-Columbian period (900-1532).
In 1912, President Guillermo Billinghurst proposed the idea of connecting the island to the mainland dam. They returned to this idea in 1958: the Danish company Christian and Nielsen presented a project that, in addition to the dam, included the construction of a fishing port and a new commercial dock. The project did not materialize due to financial problems, a shortage of drinking water and a potential threat to the existence of island fauna.
In the first half of the 1990s, the island served as a prison for the leaders of the left-wing partisan groups Sendero Luminoso and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement . In 2010, the National Institute of Culture declared 20 archaeological sites on the island as a nation’s heritage.
Since 2011, it has been closed to civilians, in rare cases, permission to visit is given to archaeologists and naturalists. Civilian vessels are prohibited from approaching the coast of the island at a distance of less than 300 meters.
The future of the island
The future of San Lorenzo remains a matter of debate. The project of linking the island with the mainland through the construction of a dam, bridge or underwater tunnel from the La Punta Peninsula (a distance of about 4 kilometers) and the construction of a and a new airport were . San Lorenzo will become the country's main port, like Valparaiso in Chile. The new megaport could become the largest in South America, its development is promoted by a favorable, strategically important position in the center of the western coast of the continent.
Opponents of these plans argue that the island should remain under the control of the naval forces of Peru and become a protected reserve.
See also
Links
- About the island on the tourist portal of Lima
- Historia, Gente y Tradición: Las Islas del Callao
- Tour Geológico Isla San Lorenzo (Link not available) . Archived February 13, 2005.
- Ministerio Público-Fiscalía de la Nación del Perú (2008), PERÚ: Compendio Estadístico 2008, pág. 25 (inaccessible link) . Archived January 18, 2012.