BRIEF HISTORY REVIEW
The city of Lima, more known as the "City of the Kings", was founded the 18 of January of 1535 by Francisco Pizarro, locating it at the right side of the Rimac River.
Lima, which name comes from the indigenous word Rimac, that translated means talker, started to grow between the testimonies of this millenary cultures that developed in all this zone. It converted in the XVI and XVII Century into the most important and powerful metropolis in the Spanish America. It was the center of all the commercial and cultural activities of the Viceroy.
In the XVIII Century started the fall of this Viceroy because of the foundation of the Viceroy of La Plata which absorbed the famous mines of Potosi.
In 1821 after intense political movements, the General Don Jose de San Martin, proclaims the Independence of Peru, starting from that moment the Republican era, until our days.
Today, Lima is a modern city, that has approximately the 20% of the total population of the country.
PRINCIPAL ATTRACTIONS IN THE CITY
- Plaza de Armas.(Main Square). When Lima was founded on January 18th, 1535, Pizarro laid out the square. He indicated where the Governor's House (today the Goverment Palace), the Cathedral, side by side with the Archbishop's Palace and the Town Council (today the Municipality) would be built. At the center of the square stands a nice bronze fountain.
- The Cathedral. It was totally destroyed in the 1746 earthquake and reconstructed in 1758. The Choir stall and carvings are specially outstanding. The Ivory Christ was a gift from Charles V. The remains of Conqueror Francisco Pizarro, is in the chapel. The Sacristy contains a museum of religious art.
- San Fransisco Church. Border by the Church of the Soledad and the Convent of San Francisco. Has a Religious Art Museum and the underground galleries that contain the catacombs, discovered in 1951, which served the colony as a cementary.
- Santo Domingo Church. The construction of this complex was completed at the end of the XVI Century. It has altars of Peruvian Saints, which under the image of each stands a silver urn containing their relics. The Dome is uniquely beautifull, being one of the most outstanding in the city.
- La Merced Church. The church's monumental XVIII Century stone frontis piece is worth seeing. The inside has beautifull altars and at the entry in the right hand nave the cross of Father Urraca is venerated.
- Las Nazarenas Church. This church hold a painting done by a slave from Angola of a Crucified Christ on the wall which has stood, all the strong earthquakes in Lima, making the Christ have the name of El Señor de Los Milagros (the Lord of Miracles). The festivity of El Señor de Los Milagros is celebrated in October, its the main religious celebration in Peru and one of the largest Catholic processions in the world.
MUSEUMS
- Amano Museum. Arrangements for visits are to be made beforehand by telephone (+51 (1) 441 2909 / +51 932 229 084). This collection belong to Mr. Yoshitaro Amano. Salected pre-hispanic ceramics and textiles are on exhibit.
- Rafael Larco Herrera Museum. An interesting collection of ceramics, textiles and gold and silver work, especially from the Northern cultures. The Museum has a small room of special "huacos" (ancient ceramics vessels).
- Pachacamac Museum. Reopened in 2016, provides information and exhibits its important collection, coming from research carried out in the archaeological sanctuary. Different objects from the Lima, Wari, and Ychma cultures stand out and Inca, and especially the Idol of Pachacamac, as an emblematic piece.
ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES
- Pucllana. A monument representative of one of the earliest stages of the Lima culture and which was apparently an administrative and religious center. It is pyramidal in shape and built of small adobe bricks.
- Puruchuco. This was the residence of a "Cacique" (Chief) in the Pre-Colombian times. It has an on-site museum.
- Pachacamac. From the pre-inca period onward this was an important religious center where the God Pachacamac was worshiped. The Incas conquered the site and built the Temples of the Sun and of the Moon. The wooden idol found in the Temple of Pachacamac, together with ceramics and textiles, are exhibited in the on-site museum.
