Las Tapadas Limenas: The Hidden Women of Lima Who Veiled Everything But One Eye in the 19th Century

Images of people in typical local costume and vocations were among the standard offerings of any 19th century photographic studio. Many such themes are found in the cartes-de-visite produced in Peru during the 1860s, but by far the most important of these types was the tapada, the veiled one. The costume and manner of the tapada were peculiar even in Peru and were associated exclusively with Lima.

These days, society, including men and women, feel restricted by the fickle trends dictated from fashion’s elite. In Lima, however, there was a time when women felt freer, one could say, thanks to fashion and their choice to cover up. These women, who came to be known as Tapadas Limeñas, were even able to prevent a ban on their garments of choice: the saya (skirt) and manto (veil or wrap). The saya was an overskirt, worn tight at the waist and raised to show off feet and ankles. The manto was a thick veil fastened to the back of the waist; from there it was brought over the shoulders and head and drawn over the face so closely that all that was left uncovered was a small triangular space sufficient for one eye to peep through.

The Tapadas Limeñas were found exotic at that time and some men were even attracted by their mysterious appearance. As a consequence, the Church and some other laws prohibited these clothes. Still, women kept on wearing these clothes till deep in the 19th century. They believed it was ethical, but mainly because they didn’t want to give up their freedom.

25 Rare Vintage Portraits of Peruvians From the 19th Century

Immigration to Peru involves the movement of immigrants to Peru from another country. Peru is a multiethnic nation formed by the combination of different groups over five centuries.

Amerindians inhabited Peruvian territory for several millennia before Spanish Conquest in the 16th century. Spaniards and Africans arrived in large numbers under the Viceroyalty. Many people from European backgrounds mixed with the Amerindians or Asians creating an entirely new demographic group called “mestizos.”

Various European ethnic groups settled in Peru following their 1824 independence from Spain, and the majority settled in the coasts and urban areas like Lima. After the abolition of slavery in 1854, immigrants from countries such as China, Northern Europe, and Japan arrived to do labor work in areas such as farming.

Here’s a collection of 25 rare portraits of Peruvians from the 19th century:

See more»

Beautiful Pics Capture Street Scenes of Lima, Peru in the Mid-1970s

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central coastal part of the country, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima Metropolitan Area. Lima is the most populous metropolitan area of Peru and the third-largest city in the Americas, behind São Paulo and Mexico City.

Lima is home to one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the New World. The National University of San Marcos, founded in 1551, during the Spanish colonial empire, is the first officially established and the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas.

Nowadays the city is considered as the political, cultural, financial and commercial center of the country. Internationally, it is one of the thirty most populated urban agglomerations in the world. Due to its geostrategic importance, it has been defined as a "beta" city.

These beautiful color pics were taken by Chris Protopapas during his first photography expedition, working on a Greek freighter that show street scenes of Lima in summer 1974.

Lima. Museo de los Monstruos, Peru, 1974

Lima, Peru, 1974

Lima. Chevy, Peru, 1974

Lima. Chicken Store, Peru, 1974

Lima. Courtyard, Peru, 1974

See more»

Amazing Then and Now Photographs of Machu Picchu After Excavation in 1911

In 1911 American historian and explorer Hiram Bingham traveled the region looking for the old Inca capital and was led to Machu Picchu by a villager, Melchor Arteaga. Bingham found the name Agustín Lizárraga and the date 1902 written in charcoal on one of the walls.

Though Bingham was not the first to visit the ruins, he was considered the scientific discoverer who brought Machu Picchu to international attention. Bingham organized another expedition in 1912 to undertake major clearing and excavation.

“In the variety of its charms and the power of its spell, I know of no place in the world which can compare with it. Not only has it great snow peaks looming above the clouds more than two miles overhead, gigantic precipices of many-colored granite rising sheer for thousands of feet above the foaming, glistening, roaring rapids; it has also, in striking contrast, orchids and tree ferns, the delectable beauty of luxurious vegetation, and the mysterious witchery of the jungle.” — Hiram Bingham III

Bingham was a lecturer at Yale University, although not a trained archaeologist. In 1909, returning from the Pan-American Scientific Congress in Santiago, he traveled through Peru and was invited to explore the Inca ruins at Choqquequirau in the Apurímac Valley. He organized the 1911 Yale Peruvian Expedition in part to search for the Inca capital, which was thought to be the city of Vitcos. He consulted Carlos Romero, one of the chief historians in Lima who showed him helpful references and Father Antonio de la Calancha’s Chronicle of the Augustinians. In particular, Ramos thought Vitcos was “near a great white rock over a spring of fresh water.” Back in Cusco again, Bingham asked planters about the places mentioned by Calancha, particularly along the Urubamba River. According to Bingham, “one old prospector said there were interesting ruins at Machu Picchu,” though his statements “were given no importance by the leading citizens.” Only later did Bingham learn that Charles Wiener also heard of the ruins at Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu, but was unable to reach them.

The ruins of Machu Picchu are covered in jungle growth in this 1911 photograph taken when Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham first came to the site in 1911. (National Geographic)

Today the buildings at Machu Picchu are free of the vines and jungle growth that covered them when Bingham first arrived in 1911. (National Geographic)

Armed with this information the expedition went down the Urubamba River. En route, Bingham asked local people to show them Inca ruins, especially any place described as having a white rock over a spring.

At Mandor Pampa, Bingham asked farmer and innkeeper Melchor Arteaga if he knew of any nearby ruins. Arteaga said he knew of excellent ruins on the top of Huayna Picchu. The next day, 24 July, Arteaga led Bingham and Sergeant Carrasco across the river on a log bridge and up the Huayna Picchu mountain. At the top of the mountain, they came across a small hut occupied by a couple of Quechua, Richard and Alvarez, who were farming some of the original Machu Picchu agricultural terraces that they had cleared four years earlier. Alvarez’s 11-year-old son, Pablito, led Bingham along the ridge to the main ruins.

Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in 1912 with a team to begin excavation of the site, and then briefly visited again in 1915. (National Geographic)

Machu Picchu’s ruins are seen neatly excavated in 1997. The unique beauty and historical importance of the site led UNESCO to declare it a World Heritage site in 1983. (National Geographic)

The ruins were mostly covered with vegetation except for the cleared agricultural terraces and clearings used by the farmers as vegetable gardens. Because of the vegetation, Bingham was not able to observe the full extent of the site. He took preliminary notes, measurements, and photographs, noting the fine quality of Inca stonework of several principal buildings. Bingham was unclear about the original purpose of the ruins, but decided that there was no indication that it matched the description of Vitcos.

The expedition continued down the Urubamba and up the Vilcabamba Rivers examining all the ruins they could find. Guided by locals, Bingham rediscovered and correctly identified the site of the old Inca capital, Vitcos (then called Rosaspata), and the nearby temple of Chuquipalta. He then crossed a pass and into the Pampaconas Valley where he found more ruins heavily buried in the jungle undergrowth at Espíritu Pampa, which he named “Trombone Pampa”. As was the case with Machu Picchu, the site was so heavily overgrown that Bingham could only note a few of the buildings. In 1964, Gene Savoy further explored the ruins at Espiritu Pampa and revealed the full extent of the site, identifying it as Vilcabamba Viejo, where the Incas fled after the Spanish drove them from Vitcos.

A local man sits on stairs in the entrance to Machu Picchu in this undated photograph taken by Hiram Bingham. (National Geographic)

The same gateway stairs are cleared of jungle growth and debris in a 2007 photograph. (National Geographic)

Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in 1912 under the sponsorship of Yale University and National Geographic again and with the full support of Peruvian President Leguia. The expedition undertook a four-month clearing of the site with local labour, which was expedited with the support of the Prefect of Cuzco. Excavation started in 1912 with further excavation undertaken in 1914 and 1915. Bingham focused on Machu Picchu because of its fine Inca stonework and well-preserved nature, which had lain undisturbed since the site was abandoned. None of Bingham’s several hypotheses explaining the site held up. During his studies, he carried various artifacts back to Yale. One prominent artifact was a set of 15th-century, ceremonial Incan knives made from bismuth bronze; they are the earliest known artifact containing this alloy.

Although local institutions initially welcomed the exploration, they soon accused Bingham of legal and cultural malpractice. Rumors arose that the team was stealing artifacts and smuggling them out of Peru through Bolivia. In fact, Bingham removed many artifacts, but openly and legally; they were deposited in the Yale University Museum. Bingham was abiding by the 1852 Civil Code of Peru; the code stated that “archaeological finds generally belonged to the discoverer, except when they had been discovered on private land.”

Hiram Bingham at his tent door near Machu Picchu in 1912.

Local press perpetuated the accusations, claiming that the excavation harmed the site and deprived local archaeologists of knowledge about their own history. Landowners began to demand rent from the excavators. By the time Bingham and his team left Machu Picchu, locals had formed coalitions to defend their ownership of Machu Picchu and its cultural remains, while Bingham claimed the artifacts ought to be studied by experts in American institutions.

There are disputes as to whether Bingham was in fact the first to “discover” Machu Picchu, as others have claimed to have been there before, and the native Quechuan people who led him to the city clearly knew it was there. However, he is credited with being the official discoverer of Machu Picchu and bringing the city to the attention of the world.

Rare Kodachrome Photos That Capture Everyday Life of Peru Marketplaces in 1946

An amazing collection of Kodachrome pictures from album5900 that shows everyday life of Peru marketplaces in 1946.

See more»

45 Vivid Color Photos Document Everyday Life of Peru in the 1960s

Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the west by the Pacific Ocean. Peru is an extremely biodiverse country with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the Andes mountains vertically extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical Amazon Basin rainforest in the east with the Amazon river.

Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures spanning from the Norte Chico civilization in Caral, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America.

The Peruvian population is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music.

Here is a wonderful collection of 45 vivid color photos that shows everyday life of Peru in the 1960s.

Crowd at the door of church or cathedhral, Cuzco, Peru, 1960.

People at the door of church or cathedhral, Cuzco, Peru, 1960

Cuzco Plaza de Armas, 1967

Women from Cuzco to Machu Pichu, Peru, 1967

Cuzco, Peru, 1963

See more»

The World's Youngest Mother: Pictures and the Astonishing Story of a Peruvian Woman Who Gave Birth at the Age of Five

Back in 1939, a little girl named Lina Medina gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She was only five-years-old. This story is truly a medical marvel — one that is surely hard to believe.

Born in Ticrapo, Castrovirreyna Province, Peru, to silversmith Tiburelo Medina and Victoria Losea. She was brought to a hospital by her parents at the age of five years due to increasing abdominal size. She was originally thought to have had a tumor, but her doctors determined she was in her seventh month of pregnancy. Dr Gerardo Lozada took her to Lima to have other specialists confirm that Medina was pregnant.

Lina is the world's youngest documented mother in medical history. At the time of delivery, she was 5 years, 7 months and 17 days old.

A month and a half after the original diagnosis, Medina, at the age of 5 years, 7 months, and 21 days, gave birth to a boy by a caesarean section on 14 May 1939, which made her the youngest known person in history to give birth. Medina's son weighed 2.7 kg (6.0 lb) at birth and was named Gerardo after her doctor.

The caesarean birth was necessitated by her small pelvis. The surgery was performed by Lozada and Dr Busalleu, with Dr Colareta providing anaesthesia. When doctors performed the caesarean to deliver her baby, they found she already had fully mature sexual organs from precocious puberty. Her case was reported in detail by Dr. Edmundo Escomel in the medical journal La Presse Médicale, including the additional details that her menarche had occurred at eight months of age, in contrast to a past report stating that she had been having regular periods since she was three years old. The report also detailed that she had prominent breast development by the age of four. By age five, her figure displayed pelvic widening and advanced bone maturation.

Medina has never revealed the father of the child nor the circumstances of her impregnation. Escomel suggested she might not actually know herself by writing that Medina "couldn't give precise responses". Although Lina's father was arrested on suspicion of child sexual abuse, he was later released due to lack of evidence, and the biological father was never identified.

Throughout the years, many people have called her story a complete hoax, however, a number of doctors over the years have verified it based on biopsies, X rays of the fetal skeleton in utero, and photographs taken by the doctors caring for her.

Gerardo was raised believing that Medina was his sister, but found out at the age of 10 that she was, in fact, his mother. He died in 1979 at the age of 40, from either bone cancer or a bone marrow infection.

In young adulthood, Medina worked as a secretary in the Lima clinic of Lozada, who gave her an education and helped put her son through high school. Medina later married Raúl Jurado, who fathered her second son in 1972. As of 2005, Lima lives with her husband in a poor neighborhood of Lima, Peru and refuses to do interviews with the media. Their surviving son lives in Mexico.

Lina Medina, who became pregnant at the age of five.

Five-year-old Lina Medina cradles her baby shortly after giving birth in Peru in 1939.

Lina Medina with Dr. Gerardo, who helped her to give birth to a healthy boy, who was then named after the doctor.

Lina and her grown up son.

See more»