The arch was a stone and brick structure that stood on the south side of the Puente de Piedra, in front of the Royal Houses (Casas Reales).[2] It was built in the Plazuela de Los Desamparados[3] in 1700 during the government of Viceroy Melchor Portocarrero Lasso de la Vega. In 1738, a bronze statue of King Philip V, made by the sculptor Baltazar Gavilán [es], was installed at the top.[2][4] This installation is described by Ricardo Palma in his book Peruvian Traditions.[5]
The arch broke down on several occasions due to several earthquakes that devastated the city.[2] In the earthquake of 1746, the statue of the Spanish monarch[4] was destroyed and the arch was left in a ruinous state.[6] In the 1760s, during the government of Viceroy Manuel de Amat y Junyent, the structure was repaired and the clock in one of the towers of the church of San Pedro was installed in the place where a statue of Our Lady of Bethlehem had been.[6] A sandglass was installed where the statue of Philip V had been.[6]
In 1852, during the presidency of José Rufino Echenique, a new monumental clock illuminated from the inside and visible from both sides, which was donated by the Jesuits,[2][6] was installed.
During the Republic, the arch was abandoned and entered into a certain decline.[6] Only until 1868, during the government of José Balta, was the arch restored.[6] However, just over a decade later, both the clock and the oak wood from which the arch was made were destroyed when a fire started by the Chilean baker Cornelio Granados consumed them in the early hours of April 10, 1879.[2][6] His wife, Maiz Sara Bossellar, a Dutch woman who was the daughter of a refiner at an hacienda in Palpa and had married him before the age of 15, left him as a result.[1]