Attractions
Plaza Mayor and Plaza San Martin
A long pedestrian street – the Jiron de Union – links Lima's two main plazas. Here, the nation’s recent colonial past meets its Indian heritage, as many of the buildings you’ll see here are on sites once occupied by Incan edifices. Originally designed by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, the striking Plaza Mayor is defined by colonial architecture, a bronze fountain and old street lamps. There are several important sites here, including the Archbishop’s Palace, the Cathedral of Lima, and the Government Palace where the changing of the guard takes place. Named for a key figure in the struggle for Peruvian independence, the Plaza San Martin is a hub of activity and a busy area of shoe-shiners, soapbox speakers, street artists and a popular site for political demonstrations.
Transport: Buses marked Avenida Tacna go to within a few blocks of either square
Museo de la Nacíon (National Museum)
No museum tackles Peruvian history quite like el Museo de la Nacion. The superb anthropological and archaeological collections here illustrate the country’s Incan heritage and its more modern colonial past. The chronological layout guides visitors easily through the complicated ancient history, but perhaps the most impressive collection here is the permanent Yuyanapaq exhibit. Named for the Quechua word meaning "to remember," this display was created by Peru’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission in 2003 and is a moving photographic tribute to the nation’s brutal Internal Conflict (1980–2000).
Address: Avenida Javier Prado Este 2465, San Borja
Telephone: (0)1 476 9878
Transport: Bus marked Javier Prado/Aviacion or take a taxi from Lima Centro or Miraflores
Opening time: Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 6pm
Admission: S/. 7 (adults). Concessions available
Museo de Oro del Peru (Gold Museum)
Housed in a fortress-like building are safe-rooms crammed with treasures from the Inca civilisation and their predecessors. The massive collection of gleaming gold, ceremonial objects and jewellery compete for attention, and the famous golden Tumi, the symbol of Peru, has been shown around the world. The rest of the museum is just as interesting with thousands of exquisite tapestries, pre-Incan weapons and wooden staffs, masks, mummies, and clothing. There is also a vast display of antique weapons and uniforms, a reminder of Peru's violent past. Visitors, be warned: in 2001 it was revealed that much of the collection here was fake – and many displays now announce themselves as "reproductions."
Address: Avenida Alonso de Molina 1100, Monterrico
Telephone/Fax: (51)(1) 345-1292 - (51)(1)345-1271 - (51)(1)345-1787
Website:www.museoroperu.com.pe
Email:info@museoroperu.com.pe, oroperu@museoroperu.com.pe
Transport: From the corner of Avenida Javier Prado and Avenida Aviacion take a bus to Avenida Angamos and change to one marked "Universidad de Lima". Ask the driver to let you off at the Museo de Oro.
Opening time: Daily 10:30am to 6pm.
Admission: S/. 33 for adults, S/.16 for children; concessions available
Museo Rafael Larco Herrera
This museum has perhaps the largest and most impressive collection of pre-Colombian art in the world, with some 45,000 clay pots on display. Housed in an 18th-century colonial-style building, the collection concentrates on the ceramics of the Moche Dynasty, the people who lived along the northern coast of Peru between 200 and 700 AD. The Moche culture is recognised as accomplishing one of the greatest imaginative languages of ancient Peru through the creative use of pottery, providing clues to all aspects of their civilisation without the use of the written word. One can learn about their religion, agriculture, transport, dance and music through their ceramic designs and shapes. The Moche are also renowned for their fascinating erotic pottery and the famous collection is on display in the separate "Erotic Hall", depicting the amorous practices of several Peruvian cultures in a lifelike, explicit and often humorous way.
Address: 1515 Avenida Bolivar, Pueblo Libre
Telephone: (0)1 461 1312 or 461 1835
Email:webmaster@museolarco.org
Website:www.museolarco.org
Transport: Take a minibus to the Avenida Brasil and then another to Avenida Bolivar.
Opening time: Daily 9am to 6pm.
Admission: S/. 30, children S/.15, concessions available
Church of San Francisco
Lima's most spectacular colonial church, San Francisco is a striking white and yellow building with twin towers and a stone façade. Built in 1674, it was one of the few buildings to survive the devastation of the 1746 earthquake and is renowned for its underground catacombs that contain the bones and skulls of an estimated 70,000 people. The interior of the church has arches and columns decorated with beautiful mosaic tiles and an exquisitely carved Moorish-style wooden ceiling above the staircase leading to the cloisters. The church also contains a renowned 17th-century library with thousands of antique texts and a room containing painted masterpieces by Reubens, Van Dyck and Jordaens.
Address: Jr. Ancash 471
Telephone: 01/427-1381
Opening time: Daily 9am to 5:45pm
Admission: S/. 5 concessions available
