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This city is the bastion of the essence of all things Peruvian.
The frontier city of Tacna, the business hub of the southern
tip of Peru and an interesting stopover. Its monuments,
such as the arch of the Alto de la Alianza, reflect the
important role this balmy city has played in Peruvian history.
President La Mar declared Tacna the Heroic City in 1828,
shortly after Peru achieved its independence from Spain.
A century later, the city's inhabitants set an example for
the rest of the country in their patriotism and courage:
at the end of the War of the Pacific in 1879, which pitted
Peru against Chile, the townspeople of Tacna decided in
a plebiscite to form part of Peru once more, after having
been annexed by Chile. This symbolic act helped Peru not
only to recover a strategic location, but also to give hope
to a nation that was rebuilding itself after the war.
Today, with its troubles in the past, Tacna has become a
bustling metropolis, a free trade zone and a transit area
to Chile, as well as Peru's second-ranked port of entry.
Its attractions include a splendid neo-Renaissance Cathedral,
the Municipal Theater, which dates back to the nineteenth
century, the Alameda Bolognesi walkway, the monument and
museum of the Alto de la Alianza, commemorating the key
battle for Independence, and the caves of Toquepala, where
archaeologists have found some of the oldest human remains
in Peru.
No visitor should miss the festival of the Señor
de Locumba, which is celebrated every September, and which
every year draws thousands of faithful from both Peru and
abroad. Its seething commercial activities, the people,
their history -these and other attractions make Tacna a
particularly interesting spot on the Peruvian tourist circuit.
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