Pizarro Founds Lima as Capital of Peru

Francisco Pizarro founds Ciudad de los Reyes (City of Kings) — later known as Lima — on the Peruvian coast near the Rimac River. He chooses the coast over the high-altitude Inca capital of Cusco for logistical access to Spain via sea. Lima becomes the administrative capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru and one of the most important cities in the Spanish colonial world. Cusco remains a center of Inca culture and periodic resistance.