Public maintenance of the “Alameda de los Descalzos” and other wooded areas in colonial Lima

Abstract

The article explores how the colonial authorities managed the maintenance of the wooded areas around the city of Lima and its outside-the-walls promenade – i.e., the Alameda – called “de los Descalzos”. The high demand for wood caused the decrease of this natural resource, and due to the alarming increase in its consumption, the municipal council tried to stop and reduce it through ordinances. The Alameda de los Descalzos, whose inauguration in 1611 was onerous to the public budget, required continuous expenses for its maintenance and this was assumed by the depressed funds of the council. Its founder, viceroy Juan De Mendoza y Luna, provided it with an estanco to sustain it, but it required the will of subsequent viceroys to maintain it, and whose priorities did not always coincide with that of the founding viceroy.