PIURA, a town of Peru, capital of a province of that name, in the department of Truxillo, on the left bank of the river Piura, 240 miles N.N.W. of Truxillo. It is built for the most part of brick, and the streets are narrow and unpaved. There is a public square in the middle of the town. The town contains several churches, government offices, and a college attended by 120 pupils. Some trade is carried on in maize, cotton, sugar, fruit, &c. Piura was the first Spanish settlement in Peru. It originally stood near the sea, but was removed to its present site on account of the unhealthiness of its former one. Pop. about 10,000.