The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Piura

PIURA, an inland city of Peru, capital of the department, province, and district, and on the river of the same name, 523 m. N. W. of Lima; pop. about 15,000. Situated in the midst of a sandy plain, it has pretty good streets, and houses more remarkable for solid construction than architectural symmetry. The climate is very mild and exceedingly dry, Piura being comprised within the rainless zone of the republic. Sulphur, iron, lead, magnesia, lime, and sulphate of soda abound in the province, and petroleum likewise occurs. The cultivated products comprise maize, tobacco, cacao, cotton, and the sugar cane; plantations of the two last of which are fast multiplying in the vicinity of the city, which will be connected by a railway 63 m. in length, to be completed in 1876, with its port, Payta, on the Pacific. The mules of Piura are the best in the republic.—This city, founded by Pizarro in 1531 near its present site, under the name of San Miguel, is the oldest European settlement in Peru.