In the Ica territory flowered 2 of the most important cultures that lived in this part of the continent. The Paracas culture (600 B. C. - 100 A.D.) and the Naza culture (100 A.D. - 800 A.D.) were the first civilizations of Ica, followed by the Chincha culture (800 A.D. - 1476 A.D.), but there are not many registers of the last one. With the expansion of the Incan Empire, the end of the Chincha culture would arrive, consolidating as new power of the territory of Ica until the arrival of the Spanish and the subsequent conquest. After the foundation by the Spanish, Ica would become a commercial region, characterized by its textile and winemaking industries, which saw its origin in 1540, when Nicolás de Ribera el Viejo produced the first eau-de-vie with the Ica raisins.

The name Arequipa comes from the quechua word “ari-que-pay”, that refers to a legend about the inca Mayta Cápac; in the legend his subjects, impressed by the beauty of the place, asked him to stay and the inca answered: “yes, stay” (ari-que-pay).In the inca period the incas left the Arequipa territory in search of new places to conquer. The official foundation of the city took place in 1540, by the Spanish who arrived there to take advantage of the mines of the area in the colonial period.The city prospered quickly due to its advisable location in the mining transit path, becoming the most important commercial city, and standing out for its loyalty to the Spanish crown.During the republic, Arequipa was the place where concentrated most of the uprisings and social and political conflicts, what (later on time) would deserve its title of “Hero city of the free people of Arequipa”. Nowadays the city of Arequipa is one of the metropolis of higher economic, cultural and touristic importance inside the country.