Bridge and Boundary: The Maritime Connections of Colonial Arequipa, Peru

European empires heavily relied on maritime connections for their expansion and operations. In the Andean region, where Spanish colonialism had a distinct urban character, maritime connections were emplaced in a tripartite arrangement or city-port axes. In this article, I show that the city of Arequipa, in southwestern Peru, differed from this pattern. There emerged instead a capillary arrangement of semi-specialized maritime links between the city and the Pacific Ocean. I also explore the conditions that favored this arrangement, including the positioning of Arequipa within southern trade networks, the city’s unique location, and the presence of an important port at Arica.