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Surquillo
District
General view ofRedoubt Park
Coat of arms
Location of Surquillo District inLima Province
Coordinates:12°7′2″S77°1′14″W / 12.11722°S 77.02056°W /-12.11722; -77.02056
Country	Peru
Department	Lima
Province	Lima
Founded	July 15, 1949
Government
• Mayor	Cintia Loayza
Area
• Total	3.46 km2 (1.34 sq mi)
Elevation	105 m (344 ft)
Population  (2023)[1]
• Total	104,832
Time zone	UTC-5 (PET)
Postal code	15038
UBIGEO	150141
Website	munisurquillo.gob.pe

Surquillo is adistrict of Lima,Peru. The district is bordered by the districts ofSan Isidro andSan Borja on the north; byMiraflores on the south and west; and bySantiago de Surco on the east.

In times past, this part ofLima was already known as the "Chacras de Surquillo". At present, the exact origin of this name has not yet been found, although it is believed that the name "Surquillo" is a diminutive ofSurco.^[2] After the founding of Lima in 1535,Francisco Pizarro found, apart from thecuracazgo of Lima, other lordships and chiefdoms in the area, such as Rimactampu, Maranga, Carabayllo, Lurigancho, Linche, Surquillo and Surco. According to the researcher and historian of thePontifical Catholic University of Peru, Juan Luis Orrego Penagos, the origin of the name Surquillo comes from theviceregal era, when a community of indigenous people emerged in this place that bore similarities to the town of Santiago de Surco. As a result of this, the authorities began to refer to the new settlement as Surquillo.^[3]

Surquillo was first inhabited by people from different cultures during thePre-Incan Era. This is evidenced by the discovery of small pre-Inca ruins such as theHuaca La Merced (belonging to theIchma culture), which dates back to approximately theLate Intermediate period.^[4]

During theConquest of Peru, the inhabitants of the area surrounding the La Merced huaca were possibly moved to theSurco reduction due to its proximity.^[4] In this period, the conquerorFrancisco Pizarro, using aroyal decree, on May 22, 1534, transferred the land of a part of the current Surquillo (at that time known as "Las Chacras de Surquillo") to the Convent of Our Lady of La Merced to use it asfarmland.^[2] Eventually, Surquillo (also known as 'Surco Chico') evolved as amarginalized neighborhood, populated mainly by people of limited resources, located on the route that connected Lima withSan Miguel de Miraflores. Later, thehacienda of the same name arose, belonging to the Mercedarians.^[3] On February 16, 1849, the Convent of La Merced transferred the land of the estate to General Martínez de Aparacio, who would transfer the land to another owner some time later.^[2]

During theWar of the Pacific, PresidentNicolás de Piérola ordered the construction of a defense line made up of fortifications called 'redoubts' to defend the city of Lima from invadingChilean troops. Among them, one was built in Surquillo called "Reducto N°5", which is currently located in thepark of the same name, onAngamos Avenue, near the border with theSan Borja district. In this fortification, the Battalion No. 8 of the Reserve, composed of 300 men, fought, which were able to initially repel and stop the attack of the Chilean troops commanded by the Chilean generalPatricio Lynch. However, the defenders were forced to evacuate their positions, due to the Chilean troops that outnumbered and outgunned them. Eventually, a Peruvian soldier by the name of Manuel Castañeda blew up the redoubt, preventing Chilean troops from capturing the arsenal.^[5][2]

At the beginning of the 20th century, Tomás Marsano would begin tourbanize part ofMiraflores and Surquillo, the latter with the founding of the urbanization known as "Surquillo" (currently called Surquillo Viejo), through the Compañía Urbanizadora Surquillo, which owned land in this part of the capital, including the La Calera de La Merced and Primavera haciendas.^[6]

However, Surquillo was urbanized differently than that used in Miraflores. Surquillo was designed withblocks of the same size as those from Miraflores, but with long, narrow and more economical lots. Likewise, no park was laid out unlike what happened in Miraflores. These lands were sold mainly tolow-income migrants from the south of the country. Furthermore, the urban authorization for which the inhabitants of Surquillo paid was not delivered. According to the former mayor of Miraflores, Eduardo Villena Rey, Tomás Marsano promised to implement the area with water,drainage, paving andsidewalks, but he failed to fulfill said contract. Miraflores proposed providing basic services to the Surquillo neighborhood, but the residents refused because they believed it would exempt Tomás Marsano from his obligations as an urban developer. Eventually, Miraflores reached an agreement with Tomás Marsano, where he gave up a 10,000m2 land on the La Calera de la Merced farm for the construction of the new Miraflores Municipal Cemetery (current Surquillo Municipal Cemetery).^[7]

In the first years since its urbanization, the proliferation of narrowalleys and smallcountry houses was generated, due to the typology of large lots for people with limited resources. Subsequently, the population of Surquillo grew rapidly, going from 7,000 inhabitants in 1935 to 40,000 in 1949.^[7] Prior to its urbanization, according to the Gazetteer of Peru, Surquillo had a population of 120 inhabitants in 1922.^[8] In the 1930s, large industrialfactories appeared, due to the fact that it had aworking-class neighborhood with large, low-cost land and the lack ofzoning in the area.

Before 1949, Surquillo belonged to theMiraflores district as the "Fundo de Surquillo", from which it would be separated on July 15 of that same year at the request of a group of owners, during the presidency ofManuel Odría, by means of the Decree Law No. 11058 for being a district that is too large to take care of the needs of its increasingly growing population, as well as for not providing basic services to Surquillo.^[9] The limits established for the district were the following:^[10]

To the north with theSan Isidro District, starting from the intersection ofPaseo de la República with Panama Street, continue along the extension of this street, passing through the center of the Limatambo roundabout, continues with the axis of the extension of said street, bordering theLimatambo airport, to the south, to the east and continues until it meets the extension ofJavier Prado Avenue, along which it will turn towards the East following said extension until its intersection with the line of theRailway from Lima to Lurín to theSurco River, along whose bank Right continues until its intersection with thehighway to Atocongo. To the south and west with a broken line that begins with the intersection of Panama Street with the axis of Paseo de la República and continues to the south the axis of said Paseo until its intersection withAvenida Andrés Avelino Cáceres until its intersection withAv. Panamericana (Roosevelt) continuing along the extension of Av. Cáceres until its intersection with the Atocongo highway, following the axis of said highway to the south until its intersection with the Surco River.

In the 1950s, the informal occupation of Casas Huertas occurred, which were originally agricultural fields that, eventually, the new owners converted intotenements for rent. Some time later, this part would be consolidated with a layout of large blocks and narrow alleys. The sale of small plots of land and the alley-type urbanization without any property title led to the consolidation of the neighborhood as a "barriada." Likewise, in the 60s the invasion of Villa Victoria would be consolidated.^[7] On the other hand, given the concentration of the population and the appearance of the so-called "barriadas", in turn the appearance of the phenomenon of urban violence where the nickname "Chicago Chico" (Small Chicago) appears, a term that increased the bad reputation of Surquillo and will place it as an ineligible district for residence.^[11]

Several years later, the La Calera estate began to be urbanized in 1968 through smalldevelopments by business groups. New urbanizations would be founded such as Jorge Chávez (1970), Los Sauces (1974), El Pedregal, La Calera de la Merced, VIPEP, Los Jardines de Higuereta, Las Orquídeas, among others.^[12]

On June 1, 1983, during the second government ofFernando Belaúnde, Surquillo would lose more than half of its territory, due to the creation of theSan Borja district, through Law No. 23604. San Borja established its limits between the avenues Canada, Circunvalación, thePanamericana Sur highway, and Primavera - Angamos, Miguel Iglesias, José Gálvez Barrenechea and Guardia Civil avenues. The new district is segregated from the district of Surquillo, and at the same time, absorbs territories from the districts ofSantiago de Surco andSan Luis.^[13]

In June 1992, during theInternal conflict in Peru, Operation Huascaura took place, in which members of theGEIN captured Luis Alberto Arana Franco, known as "Sotil". During his interrogation, Arana Franco revealed the location ofAbimael Guzmán.^[14]

«The car was driven by a pitucamiraflorina (in reference toMaritza Garrido-Lecca [es]), they blindfolded me. "President Gonzalo" asked me to rent a house in the Urbanization Los Sauces, Surquillo. And the next day I went there. Suddenly I saw the same couple who had taken me to meet Abimael get out of a car and I left.^[15]

In July, GEIN agents had set up shop in front of the house which was Abimael Guzmán's refuge. This house belonged to a colonel of thePeruvian Investigative Police. After two months of surveillance and monitoring, on September 12 at 5:30 p.m., GEIN agents broke into the building, thus capturing Abimael Guzmán, leader and founder ofSendero Luminoso, and other members of the terrorist organization.^{[16][17][18][19]}

During the 90s the district began to migrate from factories and large industries to a greater number ofservices. This process was completed in the 2000s, when the majority of factories were relocated to the peripheries.^[7] Currently the district is focused on the gastronomic sector with the consolidation of restaurants.^[20][21][22] Likewise, the commercial sector has increased within the district, highlighting the inauguration of theOpen Plaza Angamos shopping center in 2010.

Surquillo is under the jurisdiction of its owndistrict municipality, as well as that of theMetropolitan Municipality of Lima.

Since 2023, the incumbent mayor is Cintia Loayza.

Surquillo is twinned with the following municipalities:

• San Isidro District, Lima^[23]
• Santiago de Surco District, Lima^[24]
• Municipality of Itagüí^[25]

The district of Surquillo is located west of the city ofLima, forming part of the subregion calledLima Centro. It has an area of 4.49 km², which makes it one of the smallest districts in theprovince of Lima.^[26] Meanwhile, its average height is 105meters above sea level.

It limits to the north with thedistrict of San Isidro, through streets 3 Sur and 32. Then, it also limits to the north, with thedistrict of San Borja, through avenues José Gálvez Barrenechea, Miguel Iglesias andAngamos Este. Subsequently, it limits to the east and southeast with the district ofSantiago de Surco, through El Sauce Avenue, Intihuatana Avenue and Gerona Street, following the path of theSurco River. Afterwards, it borders to the south, with theMiraflores district throughTomás Marsano Avenue, and Alejandro Deustua and Juan José Calle streets. Next, the limit continues through Manuel Arce de Oliva Avenue, Manuel Almenara Street, and Roca and Boloña,República de Panamá, Andrés Avelino Cáceres and Ricardo Palma avenues. Subsequently, the limit continues to the west, throughPaseo de la República avenue. And finally, it limits to the northwest, also with the district of San Isidro, throughAndrés Aramburú Avenue.

In 2023, Surquillo had an approximate population of 104,832 inhabitants and apopulation density of 29,863.3 inhabitants per km², making it the most densely populated district inMetropolitan Lima andPeru.^[27] It is inhabited by 50.2% of families from ahigh socioeconomic stratum, with incomes greater than 2,400soles. While, the remaining percentage corresponds to families of medium-high andmedium socioeconomic level.^[28] In 2019, itshuman development index was 0.8171, making it the tenth district ofLima with the highest HDI.^[29]

demographic vertical bar chart of Surquillo between 1993 and 2023

Sources: 1993,^[30] 2007, 2017^[31] and 2023 population.^[32]

Surquillo is a district that bordersupper andupper middle class districts. This is why many real estate agencies have put their interest in the district for the construction ofmulti-family homes.^[33]

The trapezoidal area that would be the northern and best-known part of the district is the most populated part of Surquillo; There the old area of Surquillo coexists with popular urbanizations such as Villa Victoria or Casas Huertas; However, it is the most commercially active and increasingly developed part. This area is also characterized by the lack of green areas, as well as the high rates of crimes committed in this part of the district, which causes Surquillo to be seen as a very dangerous district.^[7][34][35] On the other hand, in 2023, the Municipality of Surquillo won a project to prioritizepedestrian andbicycle mobility through the implementation ofsuperblocks, promoted by theMunicipality of Lima and theWorld Bank, which would intervene in the quadrant between shreds Santa Rosa, El Carmen, José Manuel Iturregui and República de Panamá and Andrés Avelino Cáceres avenues, with the aim of recovering public spaces and promotingsustainable mobility.^[36][37]

The areas of Barrio Médico (adjacent to thedistrict of Miraflores) and Limatambo (adjacent to the districts ofSan Isidro and Miraflores), consist of parks, spacious houses and modern buildings inhabited by people ofhigh socioeconomic level, with a better economic situation than the neighbors from other areas of the district. This point being the most modern part of the district. Likewise, their housing complexes were generally designed for single people or newly married couples, for the minimum amount of square meters. In the Limatambo urbanization, for almost 20 years, the homes located in said place have begun to sink due to the unstable terrain. This happens because the buildings were built on the land of an oldquarry, which was filled with sanitary andconstruction waste, the latter when theVía Expresa Paseo de la República was built. The land was sold to former employees of theBanco de la Vivienda (Housing Bank), who built in the area without carrying out any study on the soil in the area.^[38][39]

Likewise, there is the triangular area adjacent to the districts ofSan Borja,Santiago de Surco and Miraflores, which is also a residential area ofhigh socioeconomic level, where its distribution somewhat resembles its bordering districts. This area has as its main arteries Angamos Este, Tomás Marsano,Aviación, Principal and Manuel Villarán avenues, its main urbanizations being La Calera de la Merced, El Pedregal, Los Sauces and Vipep, occupying the southern part of the district. In addition, there are businesses located along Manuel Villarán, Angamos and Aviación avenues, being located in commercial areas.^[40]

Surquillo has 3 model markets (of whichMarket N° 1 stands out for its gastronomic variety), acemetery, a youth building, 35 parks and amunicipal stadium.^[11] Its mainCatholic temples are San Vicente de Paul, Jesús Obrero, Nuestra Señora de la Evangelización and Santa María de Nazareth.

In 1984, the Alfredo Dammert Muelle housing complex was built byENACE (National Building Company) and promoted by the government ofFernando Belaúnde Terry, where the depot of theLima tram network was located until its disappearance in 1965. and from which part of the old Convent of La Merced was built.^[41]

The district is home to the main headquarters ofMibanco, aTelefónica headquarters, theNational Geographic Institute of Peru (IGN), the headquarters ofOSITRAN, theNational Institute of Neoplastic Diseases and the Faculty of Communication Sciences, Tourism and Psychology of theUniversity of San Martín de Porres, as well as the new campus under construction of theScientific University of the South.^[42]

Likewise, in the 20th century, there have been plants and factories for soft drinks, textiles, etc. Today, there arehardware stores,supermarkets and extensiveshopping centers.

In Surquillo there are several places of interest, of which the following stand out:

• Parque Reducto No. 5
• Héroes de la Paz Park
• Open Plaza Angamos [es]
• Mercado N° 1 de Surquillo
• Huaca La Merced [es]

Since the beginning of the 2000s and the beginning of the 2010s, and to a greater extent today, there has been a considerablereal estate boom within Surquillo, in which many residential real estate companies have invested in new residential building projects in several points of the district due to the modification of the urban and building parameters in the district.^[43] For this reason, many high-altitude residential buildings have been built in different points such as the areas adjacent to Principal andAndrés Aramburú avenues, as well as parts of urbanizations such as La Calera, Barrio Médico, Los Sauces, and recently along the route ofTomás Marsano Avenue on the border with theMiraflores district and sections ofAngamos Avenue.^[44] This also brought about the appreciation ofhouse prices in various parts of the district.^[45][46][47]

• Administrative divisions of Peru
• Lima metropolitan area

• Surquillo District

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