{{short description|Former clock and landmark in Lima, Peru}} {{Infobox monument | name = Great Clock of Lima | native_name = | image = Relojpedroruiz.jpg | caption = 1872 photograph by [[Eugenio Courret]] | location = [[Lima District|Lima]], [[Lima]], Peru | mapframe = | designer = [[Pedro Ruiz Gallo]] | type = Clock | material = | begin = | complete = | open = {{dts|1870|12|06}} | dedicated_to = | map_name = | map_text = | map_width = | map_relief = | coordinates = {{Coord|format=dms|display=it}} }} The '''Great Clock of Lima''' ({{langx|es|Gran Reloj de Lima}}),<ref name=LR>{{Cite news |title=Pedro Ruiz Gallo: El feroz relojero que acabó con ejércitos y presidentes |url=https://larepublica.pe/cultural/1455790-pedro-ruiz-gallo-feroz-relojero-acabo-ejercitos-presidentes-efemerides-pedro-ruiz-gallo-guerra-pacifico-reloj-parque-exposicion/ |date=2019-04-24 |work=[[La República (Peru)|La República]]}}</ref> also known as the '''Pedro Ruiz Gallo clock''' ({{langx|es|Reloj de Pedro Ruiz Gallo }}) after [[Pedro Ruiz Gallo|its inventor]], was a monumental [[clock]] created by [[Pedro Ruiz Gallo]], and which was installed in the [[Parque de la Exposición]] in 1870 for the celebration of the [[Lima International Exhibition|Exhibition of 1872]]. The watch disappeared during the [[occupation of Lima]] by the [[Chilean Army]] in the [[War of the Pacific]].<ref name=Tauro>{{Cite book|title=Enciclopedia ilustrada del Perú: QUI-SAL|last=Tauro del Pino|first=Alberto|publisher=[[El Comercio (Peru)|Empresa Editora El Comercio S. A.]]|year=2001|isbn=9972401499|location=Lima|pages=2307–2308|language=es}}</ref>
==History== [[File:Laguna parque expolima.jpg|thumb|left|The clock (far right) in the park.]] After the [[Chincha Islands War|Spanish-South American War]], colonel and inventor [[Pedro Ruiz Gallo]] was able to dedicate himself entirely to the ambitious project of building a great clock for the [[Lima|Peruvian capital]], which he achieved under the [[patronage]] of then-President [[José Balta]], who appointed him attached to the General Staff and financed his work. To carry out the mechanism, he obtained a budget of [[Peruvian sol (1863–1985)|S/.]]31,000 from the Peruvian State, to which he added some S/.10,000 from his own pocket.<ref name=LR/><ref name=Pino>{{Cite news |title=El Reloj de la Exposición |url=http://www.limalaunica.pe/2014/06/el-reloj-de-la-exposicion.html |last=Pino |first=David |date=2014-06-06 |work=Lima La Única}}</ref>
Despite the opposition and criticism that his work received, after 6 years of work he was able to inaugurate his mechanical work on December 6, 1870, at 00:00, a few days before the anniversary of the [[Battle of Ayacucho]] was celebrated, before the admiration of the public gathered in the [[Parque de la Exposición|gardens]] in front of the [[Palacio de la Exposición]].<ref name=Pino/><ref>{{Cite book |title=Pedro Ruiz Gallo: una vida consagrada al servicio del Perú |last=Vértiz Cabrejos |first=Roberto |publisher=Concytec |year=1994 |edition=1st |location=Lima |language=es |url=https://www.biblioteca.une.edu.pe/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=16061&query_desc=an%3A44546 |last2=Telenta de Vértiz |first2=Elizabeth}}</ref><ref name=Orrego>{{Cite journal |title=Lima en la década de 1870, una ciudad para el cincuentenario de la Independencia |journal=[[Universidad de Lima|Líneas Generales]] |url=https://revistas.ulima.edu.pe/index.php/enlineasgenerales/article/download/2665/2849/0 |last=Orrego Penagos |first=José Luis |issue=1 |volume=2 |doi=10.26439/en.lineas.generales2018.n002.2665|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=Basadre>{{Cite book |title=Historia de la República del Perú [1822-1933] |last=Basadre Grohmann |first=Jorge |publisher=[[El Comercio (Peru)|Producciones Cantabria S.A.C]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-612-306-353-5 |location=Lima |pages=1600-1601 |language=es |author-link=Jorge Basadre}}</ref>
The clock was one of the main attractions of the [[Lima International Exhibition|International Exhibition]] of 1872 held in Lima, where various representative objects of the Andean country were exhibited, as well as machinery that indicated the Peruvian progress generated from the [[Guano Era|economic boom]] for the export of [[guano]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Historia del Perú republicano |last=Contreras |first=Carlos |publisher=Editorial Septiembre |year=2016 |location=Lima |pages=23 |language=es |last2=Cueto |first2=Marcos |chapter=Era del guano. El estado caudillista y la intelectualidad liberal (1845-1879)}}</ref> It remained at the Palace of the Exhibition, which served as its location for ten years, until the [[War of the Pacific]] led to the [[occupation of Lima]] in 1881.
===Theories about its destruction=== The clock was exposed in the park for about 10 years. During the [[occupation of Lima]] by the [[Chilean Army]], various facilities such as the [[Universidad Mayor de San Marcos]], the [[National Library of Peru|National Library]] or the Palacio de la Exposición were used as barracks by the invading troops. One of the theories about the fate of the watch suggests that after being disassembled it was taken as [[war booty]] by order of [[Patricio Lynch]], however once in [[Chile]] it could not be put into operation.<ref name=Orrego/> According to [[Jorge Basadre]], its inventor removed essential parts of the mechanism to render it useless so that the enemy could not rebuild it once it was transferred to [[Santiago de Chile]].<ref name=Basadre/><ref name=Tauro/>
Another theory suggests that the clock was not transferred to Chile, but that its machinery was destroyed by the victorious army and its structure used as a home for the officers of the troops stationed in the Parque de la Exposición. Once the troops withdrew, they reduced the invention to ashes.<ref name=LR/><ref name=Pino/>
==See also== *[[German Tower, Lima]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Lima landmarks}}
[[Category:1870 in Peru]] [[Category:1872 in Peru]] [[Category:War of the Pacific]] [[Category:History of Lima]] [[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Peru]] [[Category:Science and technology in Peru]] [[Category:Park of the Exhibition]]