Lima, Pre-Columbian and colonial periods

The area around Lima has been inhabited for thousands of years. Urban communities of significant size date from the pre-Inca Early Intermediate Period (c. 200 BC–AD 600), the most important being Pachacamac, which was an important religious site in both pre-Inca and Inca times. Much of the ransom demanded by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro for the Inca chief Atahuallpa (Atahualpa)