Current Time in Santiago de Surco, Peru

Santiago de Surco is one of the largest districts of Lima, occupying a broad stretch of the southern half of the Peruvian capital between the coastal plain and the dry hills that rise towards the Andes. It borders Miraflores and Barranco on the way to the Pacific and reaches inland towards La Molina and San Juan de Miraflores. Like the rest of Lima it lies in a coastal desert, with almost no rain, warm bright summers and grey humid winters when a low mist known as the garúa settles over the city.

With around three hundred and forty thousand residents, Surco is among the most populous districts of Lima and one of the most prosperous. It combines quiet residential streets, gated condominiums and modern office and retail development, and it has a reputation for green spaces, well-kept parks and a comparatively high standard of municipal services.

Its history goes back well before the Spanish conquest, when the valley belonged to the Ychma people and irrigation canals watered fields along the Surco river. A colonial parish dedicated to Saint James, Santiago, was established in the sixteenth century, and the old settlement now known as Surco Viejo preserves a colonial church, low adobe houses and narrow streets. For centuries the area was famous for its vineyards and wine, a tradition still celebrated each year in a grape harvest festival, and it became a formal district of Lima in 1929.

The best-known public space is the Parque de la Amistad, a large landscaped park with lakes, an amphitheatre, a small train for children and a reproduction of a colonial bridge, which has become one of the favourite family destinations in the capital. Nearby stand the Monterrico racecourse, home of Peruvian horse racing, and the Jockey Plaza shopping centre, one of the largest in the country. Visitors also come across ancient adobe mounds, or huacas, standing quietly between modern apartment blocks, and the district maintains botanical gardens, sports complexes and cultural centres that host concerts, exhibitions and craft fairs.

Surco is a major educational centre. The University of Lima, Ricardo Palma University and the Monterrico campus of the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences are all located here, along with respected schools, giving the district a large student population and a lively café and restaurant scene around the campuses.

The economy rests on services, commerce, education, finance and property. Corporate offices line Javier Prado and Primavera avenues, and the district's tax base allows extensive investment in parks, security and public works.

Transport is good by Lima standards. The Panamericana Sur motorway and the wide avenues of Benavides, Primavera and Javier Prado cross the district, Line 1 of the Lima Metro runs along its eastern side, and buses and shared taxis connect it to the historic centre in around half an hour outside peak hours.

Santiago de Surco is important as a prosperous, green and well-educated part of Lima, a place where colonial parish life, old vineyards and the modern commercial capital of Peru exist side by side.