Ferreñafe

Ferreñafe is a town in northern Peru and the capital of Ferreñafe Province in the Lambayeque Region, called Firruñap in Mochica. According to the article it was founded on 13 December 1550 by Captain Alonso de Osorio. Before the Spanish arrived the Sicán culture, which long preceded the Incas, lived in the area, building pyramids and burying its lineage in forms that attract scholars, and the Sicán National Museum is the main centre for understanding its philosophy, architecture and way of life. The inhabitants preserve both Catholicism and shamanism, which has earned the town the name of the city of the double faith. The Sicán, the Incas, the Spanish and more recently Chinese and Japanese immigrants brought developments in cuisine, and ingredients such as loche and lúcuma are native to the area; a cotton that grows in several natural colours, the algodón nativo, also comes from Ferreñafe, and textiles are made in small towns near the Andes. Until a few years ago the economy rested only on agriculture, and tourism, agrotourism, adventure tourism and birdwatching have since grown.