Camana

Camaná lies in a fertile river valley on the arid Pacific coast of southern Peru. The river descends from the Andes through the Majes valley and spreads across a cultivated plain before reaching the sea. Fishing and agriculture gave the valley resources quite different from those of the surrounding desert.

Spanish settlers founded a town in the valley in 1539; another settlement was established in 1557 after the first had been abandoned. Early colonial writers described vineyards, fruit and fish among the produce that sustained its inhabitants and trade. The coast was also vulnerable to the sea: an earthquake and tsunami in 1604 devastated ports in southern Peru, including Camaná. Despite such disasters, the valley continued to support its inhabitants and their fields.