Formerly a street (jirón), it was widened in 1947 under the government of Manuel A. Odría and buildings were built to house the ministries of economy and education. It is currently the second most congested artery in the city due to the circulation of 43 public transportation routes, in addition to private transportation.[1] This makes it one of the roads with the greatest environmental and noise pollution in the city.[2]
The road that today constitutes the street was laid by Francisco Pizarro when he founded the city of Lima on January 18, 1535. In 1862, when a new urban nomenclature was adopted, the road was named jirón Arequipa. Prior to this renaming, each block (cuadra) had a unique name:
Block 1: Juan de la Coba, after the man of the same name who lived there in the 17th century.[3]
With the street widening programme in the 20th century, new blocks were created along the avenue.
When the avenue was expanded to the north, through the Convent of San Francisco, the current first block was created.
When the eastern section of Nicolás de Piérola Avenue (known as Colmena Izquierda) was created, Hospicio de Cándamo Street was divided, forming the current block 10 of the avenue.
