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Lima City Guide

Lima, the “City of Kings” as the Spanish called it, is located on the coastal desert strip between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains. Founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro the Spanish conquistador, Peru’s capital is now a modern, bustling metropolis of eight million inhabitants.
The city is the social and economic heart of Peru and the colonial centre, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has many historic churches and buildings famed for their traditional intricate balconies. There are also several excellent archaeological museums.

Sights.
There are numerous museums, churches and colonial houses in Lima. Below are just some of the highlights.

Among the most famous sights is the beautiful colonial Cathedral. Building was commenced in 1635 by Francisco Pizarro himself.  He is said to have laid the first stone used in its construction and carried the first timbers used also.  He personally inaugurated the Cathedral in 1640 although it has been extensively extended and improved since this date

The Church and Convent of San Francisco were constructed in the seventeenth century and are made up by the church and the convent of San Francisco, as well as of the chapels of the Solitude and the Miracle.  The building is noted for its 17th century architecture, a fine example of Spanish Neoclassicism. Catacombs are built under the monastery, and are said to connect to other catacombs beneath the cathedral and other churches in the area. The convent's library is world-renowned. It is also the headquarters of the Museum of Religious Art.

You will also find the pre-Inca site of Huaca Pucllana in Miraflores. This adobe pyramidical structure dates back to 400 AD and has been remodeled over three centuries.
Museums.

The National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru (Museo de la Nacion) is the largest museum in Peru. This museum houses over 100,000 artifacts spanning the entire history of human occupation in what is now Peru.

The Larco Museum (Museo Larco), founded in 1926, showcases remarkable chronological galleries providing an excellent overview on 3000 years of development of Peruvian pre-Columbian history. Located in a unique vice-royal mansion of the 18th century built over a 7th century pre-Columbian pyramid, it is surrounded by beautiful gardens. This museum features the finest gold and silver collection from Ancient Peru and the famous erotic archaeological collection, one of the most visited Peruvian tourist attractions.  Larco is one of the few museums in the world where visitors can also choose to enter the storage area with its 45.000 classified archaeological objects.

The showcases of the “Gold Museum of Peru” display the craftsmanship of several centuries of Peruvian history, mainly in pre-Inca gold. There are decorative items of all the cultures, such as the Vicus culture, the Frias culture, the Chancay culture and the Nazca culture among others.

lima city guide