La Casa de Fierro \/ La Maison de Fer \/ The House of Iron in Iquitos
(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the places pointed out to us here in the city of Iquitos, in the Amazon rainforest area of northeastern Peru, was La\u00a0Casa de Fierro\u00a0(the \u201cIron House\u201d), located on\u00a0the major city square between Pr\u00f3spero and Putumayo streets. \u00a0It is a large iron house that was built during the\u00a0rubber boom that occurred\u00a0at the end of the nineteenth century. \u00a0Its\u00a0walls, ceiling, and balcony are plastered in rectangular sheets of iron and it is said to be the first prefabricated house in the Americas.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I first spotted it as we were walking to lunch this afternoon, I remarked that that particular building surely had a history behind it and that I would be interested in knowing what that history might be.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Our local guide, who seems on the whole to be quite good, told us that the house was designed by the French architect\u00a0Gustave Eiffel, who never came here and who is by far most famous for his later \u201cEiffel Tower\u201d in Paris. \u00a0But there is, alas, apparently no evidence for this popular belief \u2014 and some skeptics point out that the building doesn\u2019t even seem to reflect Eiffel\u2019s architectural style<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another and perhaps more plausible claim is that the building was constructed in Belgium and that a rubber baron \u2014 not to be confused with a \u201crobber baron\u201d \u2014\u00a0bought it at the\u00a0International Exposition of Paris\u00a0in 1889.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>It was then dismantled and was brought in pieces to Iquitos (the metal sheets were carried by hundreds of men through the jungle), and assembled there in 1890. \u00a0This would be plausible enough to me, since I know that King Ludwig II, the so-called \u201cMad King of Bavaria\u201d who also built the famous Neuschwanstein Castle, did exactly that with the \u201cMoroccan house\u201d that now stands on the grounds of his Linderhof Castle. \u00a0This house was built in Morocco for the\u00a0International Exhibition that was held in Vienna in 1873. The king bought the house in 1878 and had it rebuilt on the grounds of Linderhof. \u00a0The guides there say that he and his pals would dress in \u201cArabian\u201d garb, come out to the house, and listen to readings from the Thousand and One Nights<\/em>, which had been newly discovered in the West at the time and which were very much in vogue in Europe.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
A quite different story of the origin of La\u00a0Casa de Fierro is \u00a0apparently told in\u00a0Mario Vargas Llosa\u2019s comic novel\u00a0Captain Pantoja and the Special Service<\/em>\u00a0(Pantale\u00f3n y las visitadoras<\/i>), which I have yet to read.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Iquitos, Peru<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 One of the places pointed out to us here in the city of Iquitos, in the Amazon rainforest area of northeastern Peru, was La\u00a0Casa de Fierro\u00a0(the \u201cIron House\u201d), located on\u00a0the major city square between Pr\u00f3spero and Putumayo streets. \u00a0It is a large iron house that was built during the\u00a0rubber boom that occurred\u00a0at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
La Casa de Fierro, Gustave Eiffel, and Ludwig II of Bavaria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" One of the places pointed out to us here in the city of Iquitos, in the Amazon rainforest area of northeastern Peru, was La\u00a0Casa de\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"La Casa de Fierro, Gustave Eiffel, and Ludwig II of Bavaria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" One of the places pointed out to us here in the city of Iquitos, in the Amazon rainforest area of northeastern Peru, was La\u00a0Casa de\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-16T03:13:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-06-16T03:14:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/06\/Unknown.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html\",\"name\":\"La Casa de Fierro, Gustave Eiffel, and Ludwig II of Bavaria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-16T03:13:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-16T03:14:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" One of the places pointed out to us here in the city of Iquitos, in the Amazon rainforest area of northeastern Peru, was La\u00a0Casa de\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"La Casa de Fierro, Gustave Eiffel, and Ludwig II of Bavaria\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"La Casa de Fierro, Gustave Eiffel, and Ludwig II of Bavaria","description":" One of the places pointed out to us here in the city of Iquitos, in the Amazon rainforest area of northeastern Peru, was La\u00a0Casa de","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"La Casa de Fierro, Gustave Eiffel, and Ludwig II of Bavaria","og_description":" One of the places pointed out to us here in the city of Iquitos, in the Amazon rainforest area of northeastern Peru, was La\u00a0Casa de","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2019-06-16T03:13:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-06-16T03:14:31+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/06\/Unknown.jpeg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html","name":"La Casa de Fierro, Gustave Eiffel, and Ludwig II of Bavaria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-06-16T03:13:20+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-16T03:14:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" One of the places pointed out to us here in the city of Iquitos, in the Amazon rainforest area of northeastern Peru, was La\u00a0Casa de","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/06\/la-casa-de-fierro-gustave-eiffel-and-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"La Casa de Fierro, Gustave Eiffel, and Ludwig II of Bavaria"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75066\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Tiny](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/06\/Unknown.jpeg\")
<\/a>