Trujillo is a city in northwestern Peru. It’s known for the nation’s traditional dance, marinera. The colonial center is home to the grand Trujillo Cathedral, with its bright yellow facade, and the blue Casa Urquiaga. Nearby, the neoclassical Iturregui Palace has Italian marble statues and a courtyard. West of the city, the huge adobe complex of Chan Chan is an abandoned city once home to the ancient Chimu kingdom.
History of Trujillo:
When Francisco Pizarro arrived in Peru in 1532, his first order of business was conquest. Because the Inca had only recently subjugated the Chimu people, Pizarro decided to ally himself with the Chimu and build a major city in their territory.
In 1534 he sent conquistador Diego de Almagro (1475 – 1538) to found a town near the Chimu capital of Chan Chan. Named after Pizarro’s birthplace of Trujillo in Spain, the city is one of the oldest Colonial cities in Peru.
Trujillo declared independence from Spain in 1820, the first city in Peru to do so. In honour of this, it became the capital of the Department of La Libertad five years later.
Moreover, since 1929, the centrepiece of Trujillo’s Plaza de Armas has been The Freedom Monument, a giant sculpture celebrating moments in the struggle for independence, by German artist Edmund Möeller.