{{short description|Moorish arch in Lima, Peru}} {{Infobox monument | name = Moorish Arch | native_name = | image = Arco Español o Morisco (ingreso a la Av. Leguia, hoy Av. Arequipa), Lima.jpg | image_size = | caption = The arch in [[Avenida Leguía|Leguía Avenue]] | location = | mapframe = | designer = | type = | material = [[Cement]] and [[majolica]] | height = 29 metres | begin = {{dts|1923|07|10}} | complete = {{dts|1924|07|17}} | dismantled = {{dts|1939}} }} The '''Moorish Arch''' ({{langx|es|Arco Morisco}}), also called the '''Friendship Arch''' ({{langx|es|Arco de la Amistad}}) or '''Spanish Arch''', was a [[triumphal arch]] installed at the beginning of Leguía Avenue (today [[Avenida Arequipa|Arequipa Avenue]]) in [[Lima]], Peru. It was made in a [[Moorish Revival architecture|neo-Moorish]] style, inaugurated in 1924 as part of the [[Centennial of the Independence of Peru]], and demolished in 1939.
==Overview== The arch was located on the first block of [[Avenida Leguía]],<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Mármol y nación: monumentos urbanos en el centenario de la independencia del Perú 1921 (1921-1924) |journal=TRIM: revista de investigación multidisciplinar |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4794706 |last=Flores Ledesma |first=María |issue=3 |pages=133-147 |year=2011 |issn=2173-8947}}</ref> intersection with the [[Avenida 28 de Julio (Lima)|Avenida 28 de Julio]], in the [[Santa Beatriz]] neighbourhood; It had a height of 29 meters. It was made of [[cement]] with [[majolica]] decorations in the shape of [[Star and crescent|stars and crescents]], as well as two [[minaret]]s.<ref name=LR2001>{{Cite news |title=El arco resurrecto |url=https://larepublica.pe/archivo/326084-el-arco-resurrecto |date=2001-10-06 |work=[[La República (Peru)|La República]]}}</ref>
==History== [[File:Arco morisco España Lima.jpg|thumb|left|The arch, circa 1924.]] In 1921, during the [[History of Peru (1919–1930)|second government]] of [[Augusto B. Leguía]], the [[Centennial of the Independence of Peru]] was celebrated and many colonies of foreign residents decided to grant gifts in the form of monuments to the Peruvian State. The gift of the [[Spanish Peruvians|Spanish colony]] was the ''Friendship Arch'',<ref>{{Cite book |title=Historia de la República del Perú (1822-1933) |last=Basadre Grohmann |first=Jorge |publisher=La República / Universidad Ricardo Palma |year=1998 |edition=8th |pages=2900 |language=es |author-link=Jorge Basadre |title-link=Historia de la República del Perú}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Historia del Perú republicano |last=Contreras |first=Carlos |publisher=Editorial Septiembre |year=2016 |isbn=978-612-308-174-4 |location=Lima |pages=15 |language=es |last2=Cueto |first2=Marcos |volume=Tomo 6: Oncenio de Leguía. La Patria Nueva y la crisis mundial (1919-1933)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Historia visual del Perú |publisher=[[El Comercio (Peru)|El Comercio]] |year=2004 |isbn=9972021203 |location=Lima |pages=192 |language=es}}</ref> a Moorish-style construction whose author is unknown. The original plans, deposited in [[Madrid]], were lost due to the [[Spanish Civil War]].<ref name=LR2001/>
Construction began on its building on July 10, 1923, and it was delivered to the city of Lima on July 17, 1924.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Centenario: las celebraciones de la Independencia 1921-1924 |last=Casalino Sen |first=Carlota |publisher=[[Metropolitan Municipality of Lima]] |year=2017 |isbn=9789972726156 |location=Lima |pages=58–59 |language=es |url=http://www.biblioteca.munlima.gob.pe/images/munilibros/MUNILIBRO10.pdf |oclc=1126541508 |access-date=2023-02-02 |archive-date=2019-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113193121/http://www.biblioteca.munlima.gob.pe/images/munilibros/MUNILIBRO10.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The inauguration ceremony was lavish, with the presence of President Augusto B. Leguía, the mayor of Lima [[Pedro Rada y Gamio]], {{ill|Gonzalo de Ojeda y Brooke|es}}, as representative of the [[Spanish government]], and Arias Carraseno, representing the Spanish colony.<ref name=LR2001/>
In 1938, President [[Óscar R. Benavides]] and his Minister of Development, [[Héctor Boza]], ordered the demolition of the monument, alluding to traffic problems that it caused, and to widen [[Avenida Arequipa|Arequipa Avenue]]. The destruction with dynamite the following year caused unrest in the Spanish community, and some even interpreted Benavides' order as an act of political revenge against former President Leguía.
At the end of 2015, the National Association of the [[International Council on Monuments and Sites]] (ICOMOS) warned of the destruction of the footings of the remains of the Arch by the [[Brazil]]ian construction company OAS, which was carrying out construction work on an overpass in the [[Avenida 28 de Julio (Lima)|July 28 Avenue]]. The lawsuit filed by ICOMOS also reached the [[Municipality of Lima]] and the [[Ministry of Culture (Peru)|Ministry of Culture]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Bypass 28 de Julio: denuncian a OAS por demolición de restos de arco morisco |url=https://www.americatv.com.pe/noticias/actualidad/bypass-28-julio-denuncian-demolicion-restos-arco-morisco-n204752 |date=2015-11-01 |work=[[América Noticias]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=‘Bypaseando’ el bicentenario |url=https://elcomercio.pe/lima/bypaseando-bicentenario-raul-castro-238801-noticia/ |last=Castro |first=Raúl |date=2015-11-04 |work=[[El Comercio (Peru)|El Comercio]]}}</ref><ref name=mathews>{{Cite news |title=La destrucción de los restos del Arco Morisco de la Avenida Arequipa |url=https://mesaleespuma.lamula.pe/2015/11/27/un-arco-morisco-y-un-edificio-con-ojos/danielmathews/ |last=Mathews |first=Daniel |date=2015-11-27 |work=La Mula}}</ref>
===New Arch=== [[File:Lima City Arco Amistad.jpg|thumb|right|The new arch in Surco.]] {{ill|Carlos Dargent|es}}, a politician from Lima, carried out initiatives for its reconstruction in the original location on Arequipa Avenue when he was a councilor of the [[Municipality of Lima]]. When his motion was rejected, he relocated his proposal to the exit of the [[Vía Expresa Luis Fernán Bedoya Reyes|Vía Expresa]], then to the Higuereta roundabout. They offered to reinstall it on {{ill|Avenida Argentina|es|Avenida Argentina (Lima)|lt=Argentina Avenue}}, but he considered that it was not a good option. Years later, when he was mayor of the [[Santiago de Surco]] district, he was able to carry out the work, with the financing of various Spanish companies.<ref name=LR2001/>
On September 25, 2001, Mayor Dargent and the Spanish colony, with the presence of the [[Juan Carlos I|King]] and [[Queen Sofía of Spain|Queen]] of [[Spain]], inaugurated the new Friendship Arch, a faithful copy of its predecessor, located in the [[Friendship Park (Lima)|María Graña Ottone Friendship Park]], in the intersection of [[Alfredo Benavides Avenue|Alfredo Benavides]] and [[Avenida Caminos del Inca|Caminos del Inca]] avenues.<ref name=LR2001/><ref name=mathews/><ref>{{Cite book |title=Arco de la Amistad |publisher=Municipalidad de Santiago de Surco |year=2003 |language=es |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1jrAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>
==See also== *[[Centennial of the Independence of Peru#Foreign gifts|Centennial of the Independence of Peru § Foreign gifts]]
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Lima landmarks}}
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Peru]] [[Category:1924 in Peru]] [[Category:1939 in Peru]] [[Category:2001 in Peru]] [[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1924]] [[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1939]] [[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Peru]] [[Category:Santiago de Surco]]