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Lima Sightseeing

Lima city tour.

Lima is a big, noisy disorganized city. Nevertheless, Lima is the social and economic heart of Peru, and any visitor who just passes through the city on the way to Cusco is missing an essential part of the country.

Initially you will visit 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

Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475-June 26, 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, conqueror of the Inca Empire and founder of Lima, La Ciudad de los Reyes, capital of Peru. His is a truly extraordinary story as he ultimately led only 106 foot soldiers and 62 horsemen to capture the Inca who was supported by a reported 80,000 troops. This feat directly led to the downfall of the Inca Empire and the start of Spanish rule. His Tomb is to be found in the Cathedral to this day.

After the Cathedral you will visit the Convent and Church of San Francisco.

Church and Convent of San Francisco - Lima

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.

Recommended Lima museums:

The National Museum of the Archaeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru is the largest museum in Peru. Located in the capital city of Lima, 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, embossed and weaved nose ornaments with cut stone pendants; sets of filigree figures depicting birds, men, or monkeys; mantles, bracelets and earflaps of the Vicus culture; lizards, weasels, felines, bags of coca leaves, earrings and belts of the Frias culture; pectorals with zoomorphic designs, flat or embossed crowns of the Chancay culture; funerary masks with twisted rays or serpents from Ica; and masks with open mouths and teeth, wristbands, shin protectors and spatulas of the Nazca culture.