City of Iquitos, capital of the region of Loreto, founded by Spanish colonists in 1757 under the name of San Pablo de Napalenos, was the first port on the Amazon river. Modern Iquitos consists of four parts - the center of the city of Iquitos, Punchana, San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) and Belem (Bethlehem).

Belen also known as the Amazon of Venice, is one of the most densely populated areas of the city and the most visited by tourists. Buildings of the Upper Belen is quite common, and the bottom of Belem - mainly consists of houses on stilts or rafts to the houses on the banks of the river Itaya. This method of construction of houses was forced due to seasonal changes in the water level in the river. People settled here because of the proximity of the river port, which was beneficial for successful trading. The area is located in the old mouth of the river Itaya, and houses were built on rafts. The upper part of the district is traditional, and the lower Belen - full floating. In the rainy season due to flooding in the area of ​​Belem access is possible only by canoe.

In this area you can see two types of houseboats: moored at home, which are attached by ropes to the piles driven into the bottom, and a fully floating homes that are on the mobile rafts. In both cases, because of the proximity to the Amazon, because of its high and low tides are frequent shifts and drop these shaky structures. House joined together wooden bridges, but they are also floating.

Despite the uniqueness of floating homes on the market Belen trade and tourism, today the area is one of the poorest in the city.