Tourist Attractions in Lima

Sightseeing

Lima’s sheer size often bewilders visitors but many of the city’s museums, churches and colonial treasures are conveniently located in the historic center. In the old days, the center was filthy and overcrowded, however, a recent campaign to clean up the streets has paid dividends. Now the center has much to delight sightseers.

Tours usually start in Plaza de Armas, which was the city’s main meeting point and marketplace. Around four hundred years ago, bullfights were held in this square - the current bullring is a ten-minute walk away. Dominating the square is the Palacio de Gobierno (Government Palace). It stands on the site of the original palace built by Lima’s founder Pizarro.

Also on the main square is the Cathedral, rebuilt in 1758, after an earthquake destroyed the original building. Pizarro’s daughter helped pay for the original cathedral, on condition that her father was buried in the crypt. Nearby, the Pasaje Nicolas de Ribera el Viejo sports elegant cafes, while the Palacio Torre Tagle, with its Moorish-influenced wooden balconies, is one of the city’s most beautiful Spanish colonial mansions.

A few blocks east lies Plaza Bolivar, where the fascinating Museo de la Inquisicion (Spanish Inquisition Museum) is located. Other ‘musts’ include the Museo de la Nacion, for an overview of Peru’s archaeological riches and the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum), with its collection of stunning gold artifacts.

Away from the center lie the fashionable seaside suburbs of Miraflores and San Isidro, while the suburb of Barranco offers lively, bohemian bars. Miraflores even has its own US-style shopping mall, Larco Mar, with ten-pin bowling, a multiplex cinema, snack bars, restaurants, discos and live music. The mall is situated right on the cliffs overlooking the sea and publishes a full list of its attractions online (website: www.larcomar.com).

Tourist Information
PromPeru
Edificio Mitinci, Calle Uno, 13th and 14th floors, San Isidro
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0900-1800.

Also very helpful are The South American Explorers Club, Avenida Republica de Portugal 146, Brena (website: www.saexplorers.org), and Fertur Peru, Jiron Junin 211, Plaza de Armas.

Passes
There are no tourist passes currently available in Lima.

Key Attractions:

Plaza de Armas or Plaza Mayor (Main Square)
The very center of the capital and the home of government, the impressive Plaza de Armas or Plaza Mayor is the logical starting point for any visit to the historic center. With its gardens, old street lamps and bronze fountain, the square is a picture of colonial elegance and testimony to the money lavished upon its restoration over the last five years.

Dominating the north side of the square is the opulent Palacio de Gobierno (Government Palace), which stands on the site of the original palace built by the Conquistadors. During the days when Peru was a Spanish colony, the Palacio de Gobierno was the official residency of the king’s representative. These days, the president of the republic occupies it. The building was completely rebuilt in 1938. The main attraction is the changing of the guard, which takes place at 1145 and 1745, when palace guards, dressed in scarlet and blue uniforms, goosestep round the main courtyard.

The Cathedral, an example of Spanish Baroque, stands on the site of two previous churches. The first was built in 1550, although was replaced nearly a hundred years later, when a larger church was required. A massive earthquake then destroyed this building in 1746. The present cathedral, built a few years later, is a perfect copy of its predecessor. The interior is distinguished by its high nave, three aisles and carved wooden stalls. The walls bear the coats of arms of Lima and Pizarro. The Museo de Arte Religioso (Religious Art Museum) in the Cathedral contains icons and woodcarvings. Guided tours in English are available.

To the left side of the Cathedral stands the beautiful modern replica of the Archbishop’s Palace, with its Moorish wooden balcony. Also on the square is the impressive Municipalidad de Lima (Town Hall), which houses a selection of Peruvian paintings.

Plaza de Armas or Plaza Mayor
Transport: Buses marked Avenida Tacna, then a four-block walk.

Palacio de Gobierno
Opening hours: By arrangement.
Admission: Free; free guided tours available by arrangement or through agents.

Cathedral/Museo de Arte Religioso
Admission: PEN14.50/USUSD 4.

Municipalidad de Lima

Opening hours: Daily 0900-1300; tours by arrangement.

Palacio Torre Tagle
Two blocks east of Plaza Mayor stands the jewel of the city’s colonial architecture, the Palacio Torre Tagle. The mansion was built in 1735, for Don Jose Torre Tagle y Bracho, who received the title First Marquis of Torre Tagle, from King Charles V of Spain. The façade boasts two carved wooden balconies. The family house has beautiful staterooms and opulent staircases, while the decorative azulejos (tiling) shows a mixture of Spanish and Moorish influences. The highlight, however, is a gilded 16th-century carriage. The government took the house over in 1918 and it remains the home of the Foreign Ministry. Visitors can only enter the courtyards.

Palacio Torre Tagle
Jiron Ucayali 363
Transport: Buses marked Avenida Abancay, then a one-block walk.
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1700; tours by arrangement.
Admission: Free.

Museo de la Inquisicion (Spanish Inquisition Museum)
The Museo de la Inquisicion (Spanish Inquisition Museum) faces Plaza Bolivar, near the Congress building. In the main hall, the ceiling is made of mahogany carved into beautiful abstract forms. The infamous Court of the Inquisition was first held here in the late 16th century. In the basement are examples of the torture instruments used by the Inquisitors. Behind the museum is Lima’s Chinatown, a maze of grubby streets dominated by exotic sights and smells. The zone is entered through a decorative Chinese-style gateway. Here are some of Lima’s best and cheapest Chifas (Chinese restaurants). Peru’s Chinese community is now well established, a century or more after the first Chinese immigrants arrived as economic refugees to seek farm work on the coast.

Museo del Congreso y Antigua Tribunal la Inquisicion
Jiron Junin 548
Transport: Buses marked Avenida Abancay.
Opening hours: Daily 0900-1800.
Admission: Free.

El Convento de los Descalzos (The Convent of the Shoeless)
Behind the Palacio de Gobierno is the rundown Rimac area. Here visitors can stroll along the Alameda de los Descalzos, a walkway designed by the city’s ‘Fathers’ in the 17th century. At the end of the Almeda is a Franciscan monastery, El Convento de los Descalzos (The Convent of the Shoeless Ones), which gets its name from the Franciscan friars’ habit of going about barefoot. The Convent was founded in 1592 and its cloisters contain hundreds of Peruvian religious paintings.

El Convento de los Descalzos
Alameda de los Descalzos
Transport: Some buses marked Rimac - passengers should check with the driver.
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1300 and 1500-1800.

Museo de la Nacion (National Museum)
The Museo de la Nacion, a large concrete building in the suburb of San Borja, is the country’s main anthropological and archaeological museum with exhibits that highlight Peru’s history stretching back to its earliest tribal cultures. Exhibits have explanations in English and include displays of traditional peasant costumes from around Peru.

21st block of Avenida Javier Prado
Transport: Bus marked Javier Prado/Aviacion.
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 0900-1700.
Admission: PEN7/USUSD 2 (including exhibitions).

Museo de Oro (Gold Museum)
The highly recommended Museo de Oro is housed in a Fort Knox-like building, set back from the street and surrounded by trees, in the Monterrico suburb. Here, the loot that made Peru famous and Spain fabulously wealthy is on display. Upstairs are weapons and uniforms to remind the visitor of Peru’s violent past. Downstairs are hundreds of dazzling gold and silver artifacts from pre-Conquest to colonial times, including a yellow-feathered Inca poncho and a skull sporting teeth made of pink quartz.

Alonso de Molina, Monterrico
Transport: From junction Avenida Javier Prado/Avenida Aviacion, bus or colectivo to Avenida Angamos, then microbus 72 or colectivo to Centro Commercial shopping center, then short walk.
Opening hours: Daily 1200-1900.

Further Distractions:

Cerro San Cristobal
Dwarfing houses in the Rimac district, is the volcano-shaped hillside of Cerro San Cristobal. On a clear day, it affords great views of the sprawling city, all the way to the ocean and to the foothills of the Andes. The summit is topped by a huge cross, which shines over the town at night. At the foot of the cross, people leave petitions and candles. There is a cafe at the summit. Due to its reputation for muggings, a taxi to the summit is recommended. A round trip from the city center costs about PEN29/USUSD 8. There is a bus service up to the top of the hillside, called Urbanito, which costs around PEN7/USUSD 2.

Cerro San Cristobal, Rimac
Transport: Urbanito bus service.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.

Miraflores and Barranco
One of the main attractions of Lima is its proximity to the Pacific Ocean. In the last century, many of the capital’s richest families built summer houses in the seaside suburbs of Miraflores and Barranco, which were geographically separated from the rest of the city. Miraflores is a perfect base from which to visit the rest of Lima. Parque Kennedy, a pretty tree-lined park, surrounded by pavement cafes, offers a sanctuary from the noise and pollution of the city center. As well as a large multiplex cinema, Miraflores has a number of excellent shops selling local arts and crafts. When the sun sinks into the ocean, visitors should head for a ’sundowner’ at the Rosa Nautica, a restaurant that juts into the sea, on its very own pier.

Barranco is where Lima’s party-lovers head to at the weekend, for its hectic nightlife consisting of restaurants, bars and discos for every taste. But after the weekend, a peaceful, family atmosphere returns to the suburb. Many of the large colonial houses built for the city’s richest families remain in use, which is more than can be said for Barranco’s tram system - a beautifully restored tram car stands as a lonely witness to an altogether more sedate and stately chapter in Lima’s history.

Many ‘colectivo’ buses run between the city center and Miraflores, along Avenida Arequipa, 24 hours a day. Routes are displayed on the windscreen, usually as ‘Larco/Schell/Miraflores’. The main stop for Miraflores is Ricardo Palma, four blocks from Parque Kennedy. Buses also go to Miraflores on the Via Expresa (the fast three-lane express way) and can be caught at Avenida Tacna and Avenida Ugarte. Colectivo buses also run to Barranco from the city center along Avenida Arequipa, via Miraflores, where travelers must change for a bus marked ‘Barranco’. Some colectivo buses run all the way to Barranco and passengers should ask the driver upon boarding.