Which South American capital was founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1535 as Ciudad de los Reyes? Lima was founded by Francisco Pizarro as Ciudad de los Reyes.
Pizarro established the city on January 18, 1535, in the fertile valley of the Rímac River near the Pacific coast. The name Ciudad de los Reyes, meaning “City of the Kings,” is traditionally associated with the Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated on January 6. Although the formal name was used in colonial records, the older local name Lima gradually became dominant.
The location offered several advantages for the Spanish administration: access to the Pacific, fertile river valleys, and some distance from the coast that provided protection from maritime attacks. Lima soon became the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru and a major political, religious, and commercial center of Spanish South America.
The city was not founded on an empty landscape. Indigenous communities and earlier cultures had occupied the Rímac, Chillón, and Lurín valleys for centuries. This is why “founded” here refers to the Spanish colonial foundation, not the beginning of human settlement in the area.