La Victoria: Curiosidades Limeñas por Ernesto Ascher

LA VICTORIA

La Victoria is the name of another important district in Lima. Do you know the origin of its name? Here it goes… The whole area occupied today by this crowded district used to be an estate called “La Victoria”. It belonged to Mrs. Victoria Tristán de Echenique. Her estate home was located in the place that nowadays is known as La Cabaña, in the Park of the Exposition (Parque de la Exposición). To mark the occasion of Mr. Ruffino Echenique’s election as President of the Republic, his wife organized an unforgettable ball. The invitations were sent out with much anticipation so the ladies could order their dresses from Europe. The flowers ran out of gardens all over Lima days before the great dance. A red carpet of approximately 165 feet was rolled out, and some barrels with tar were placed leeward to protect, with the smoke they produced, the ladies’ toilette from the dust raised by the carriages transporting them. It is said that one of the guests wore more than S/.100,000 in jewelry. Can you imagine S/.100,000 in those days? Thus, the ball was fantastic and for many years people talked about the “Dance of the Victoria.” Nevertheless, Echenique’s enemies were not satisfied and unleashed their diatribes. They declared that probably Mr. Echenique would reimburse himself for the expenses as soon as he took office as President. In fact, things got so bad that some people were afraid a civil war would break out. Luckily, nobody got hurt, the tension eased, and only the memories of the famous “Dance of Victoria” remain.