| Official Name: | Monsefú |
| Other Name: | San Pedro de Monsefú |
| Nickname: | The Eternal City of Flowers |
| Motto: | Entrepreneurial and Laborious |
| Pushpin Map: | Peru |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Lambayeque |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Chiclayo |
| Subdivision Type3: | District |
| Subdivision Name3: | Monsefú |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Erwin Huertas Uceda (2022-2026) |
| Established Title: | Elevated to city |
| Established Date: | October 26, 1888 |
| Area Total Km2: | 44.94 |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2015 |
| Pop Est Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Est: | 23561 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | PET |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Coordinates: | -6.8778°N -79.8719°W |
| Elevation M: | 11 |
| Website: | www.munimonsefu.gob.pe |
Monsefú (Colonial Mochica: Omænssefæc) is a town in Northern Peru, capital of the Monsefú district in the Chiclayo Province that is part of the Lambayeque Region. It is renowned for its food and handicrafts, which are on display at the annual FEXTICUM festival,[2] named in 1973 by Professor Limberg Chero Ballena and held in July during Fiestas Patrias.[3] Monsefú is also the home of cumbia groups Grupo 5 and Hermanos Yaipen. Monsefú was elevated to the category of "city" on October 26, 1888.[4] [5]
Spanish priest Fernando de la Carrera, in his work Arte de la lengua yunga (1644), argues that the word "monsefu" comes from Omænssefæc, meaning "God punishes the one who offends the earth".[6]
Before the arrival of the Spanish, Monsefú would have been part of the chieftainship of Cinto, with the name of Chuspo, whose main center have been located in the vicinity of San Bartolo hill.[7] In 1578, heavy rains and floods blighted the crops and in 1612, the area was ravaged by a disease. The population was reduced by the disease and survivors after a few years were located in what is now Monsefú.[8]
In the early 1880s, the Chilean Army, under the command of Patricio Lynch, occupied the area and its surroundings during the War of the Pacific, where infrastructure was built by the Chilean authorities for both the locals and the troops' use, with the latter residing in a barracks.[9] After the war, the town was elevated to city level on October 26, 1888 at the request of deputy Manuel María Izaga, under the presidency of Andrés Avelino Cáceres.[8]
It has a varied semitropical temperature, since part of its territory is on the shore of the sea, and another is located in the valley of the Reque River.