Jirón Ocoña is a major street in the Damero de Pizarro, located in the historic centre of Lima, Peru. The street starts at its intersection with the Jirón de la Unión and continues until it reaches Tacna Avenue.

Jirón Ocoña
View from next to the Gran Hotel Bolívar
Part ofDamero de Pizarro
NamesakeOcoña District
FromJirón de la Unión
Major
junctions
Jirón Camaná, Jirón Caylloma, Jirón Rufino Torrico
ToTacna Avenue
Construction
Completion1535

History

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The road that today constitutes the street was laid by Francisco Pizarro when he founded the city of Lima on January 18, 1535. In 1862, when a new urban nomenclature was adopted, the road was named jirón Ocoña, after the district of Camaná Province, in Arequipa. Prior to this renaming, each block (cuadra) had a unique name:[1]

  • Block 1: Matajudios, after a farm owned by an influential family with the surname Matamoros in the 17th century.[2]
  • Block 2: Pilitricas, for reasons not known.[3]
  • Block 3: Ibarrola, after alférez Domingo de Ibarrola, who was Mayor of Callao in the 18th century.[4]

During the first presidency of Alan García, when the Dólar MUC was instituted[5] and high inflation combined with freedom of exchange made the purchase and sale of the U.S. dollar a profitable business, the Jirón Ocoña brought together a large number of money changers and currency exchange houses, causing it to be nicknamed the "little Wall Street of Lima."[6][7][8]

Currently, the business of buying and selling foreign currencies is no longer concentrated in Jirón Ocoña, but it nevertheless continues to host a large number of these businesses.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bromley Seminario 2019, p. 103.
  2. ^ Bromley Seminario 2019, p. 300–301.
  3. ^ Bromley Seminario 2019, p. 349.
  4. ^ Bromley Seminario 2019, p. 273.
  5. ^ "¿Qué hizo Alan García con los dólares MUC?". Wayka. 2017-08-11.
  6. ^ El Porteño (in Spanish). Vol. 10. Artemúltiple S.A. 1991. p. 13.
  7. ^ Rodrigo, Jean-Michel (1990). Le sentier de l'audace: les organisations populaires à la conquête du Pérou (in French). L'Harmattan. p. 74. ISBN 9782738406811.
  8. ^ Lavorosocietà (in Italian). Vol. 4. Lavoro italiano. 1989. p. 91.

Bibliography

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