PAITA, or PAYTA  , a seaport of northern Peru, chief town of the province of Paita in the department of Piura . Pop . (1906 estimate), 3800 . The town has one of the best natural harbours of the Peruvian coast, is a port of call for the regular mail steamers between Valparaiso and Panama, and is the port of the departmental capital, Piura, with which it is connected by a railway 6o m. long . It is also the Pacific terminus of the railway across the Andes to Puerto Limon, on the Maranon, or upper Amazon . Paita faces on the bay of Paita, and is sheltered from southerly winds by a headland called Punta Paita and by a large hill called the Silla de Paita . The water supply is brought from the river Chira (17 m. distant) . The exports include cotton, tobacco, petroleum, cattle, hides and straw hats . Paita dates from the early years of the Spanish Conquest, and was a prosperous port in colonial times . It was nearly destroyed by Lord Anson's fleet in 1741 .