Miraflores

Miraflores district, Lima

Miraflores, distrito (district) of the Lima–Callao metropolitan area of Peru, south of central Lima on the Pacific coast. It abounds in bougainvillea for most of the year; thus, in the mid-16th century, while still an Inca village, it came to be known by its present name (meaning “look at the flowers”). Although an 1850 census mentioned it as a district of Lima, it was not legally declared such until 1866. It was involved in the battles of La Palma (a civil war engagement in 1855 that led to Ramón Castilla’s victory) and of Miraflores (which led to the Chilean occupation of Lima in 1881).

Lima: Huaca Juliana

Lima: Huaca Juliana

Miraflores is now a commercial centre for metropolitan Lima. Its central park, Kennedy Park, is surrounded by high-rise office and apartment buildings, which continue past the park to line adjacent avenues and a boulevard overlooking the ocean. Theatres, popular restaurants, and boutiques make Miraflores the centre of Lima’s nightlife. To the northeast of the district is the Huaca Juliana, a pre-Inca religious shrine. Pop. (2005) 77,543; (2015 est.) 81,932.