Monsefú

Monsefú, founded as San Pedro de Monsefú, is a city in the Lambayeque department of northern Peru and the capital of Monsefú District in Chiclayo Province. According to the article, the priest Fernando de la Carrera argued in his 1644 grammar of the Yunga language that the colonial Mochica name meant that God punishes the one who offends the earth, and before the Spanish arrival the place would have been part of the chieftainship of Cinto under the name Chuspo. The Spanish founded the town as San Pedro de Monsefú; heavy rains and floods blighted the crops in 1578, a disease ravaged the area in 1612, and the survivors settled on the present site. The municipal government was set up in the 1870s. The Chilean army under Patricio Lynch occupied the area in the early 1880s during the War of the Pacific, and on 26 October 1888, at the request of deputy Manuel María Izaga, the town was raised to city status. It is known today for its food and handicrafts, shown at the annual FEXTICUM festival, and as the birthplace of a number of cumbia groups.