Ica has a rich history. The first settlers are from 10,000 years ago, from which the Wari, Nazca, Ica and Paracas cultures developed, the latter being the most important.

The Paracas culture developed from the seventh through the second century BC. It is distinguished by its matchless textile skills, trephinations, and the art of mummifying their dead.

The Nazca culture, on the contrary, well-known for its artistic pottery, in which colorful designs and representations excel over the form, the same as their famous lines and figures that have undergone implausible interpretations. This culture expanded from the second century BC through the seventh century AD. They have left us their wonderful aqueducts that made good use of underground water, of rivers and rain, showing a great knowledge of hydraulic engineering.

In the fifteenth century, during the Inca empire, Pachacuti incorporated the territories of Ica, Nazca and the Chincha valley.

Years later, in 1563, with the arrival of the Spanish, Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera founded the Villa de Valverde del Valle de Ica. Since then, the area became an important vineyard and cotton center.

During the independence war, General José de San Martín landed in Paracas and fixed his headquarters in Pisco, to start the fight for the independence of Peru.