from: Dilwyn Jenkins: The
rough guide to Peru; Rough Guides, New York London, Delhi;
6th edition September 2006; www.roughguides.com
The City of Lima
Laid out across a wide, flat, alluvial plain, Lima fans out
in long, straight streets from its heart,
Lima Centro. The old
town focuses on the colonial
Plaza Mayor (often still called the Plaza de
Armas) - which is separated from the Río Rimac by the
Presidential Palace and the railway station - and the more
modern
Plaza San Martín,
which are separated by some five blocks of the
Jirón de la Unión, Lima
Centro's main shopping street. At its river end, the Plaza
Mayor is fronted by the Cathedral and Palacio de Gobierno,
while there's greater commercial activity around Plaza San
Martín. The key to finding your way around the old part of
town is to acquaint yourself with these two squares and the
streets between.
From Lima Centro, the city's main avenues stretch out into
the sprawling suburbs. The two principal routes are
Avenida Colonial,
heading out to the harbour area around the suburb of Callao
and the airport, and perpendicula to this, the broad,
tree-lined
Avenida
Arequipa reaching out to the old beach resort of
Barranco. The
Paseo de La
República, more fondly known in Lima as
El Zanjon (the Great
Ditch) is a concrete, three-lane highway connecting central
Lima with San Isidro, Miraflores and almost to Barranco. The
suburb of
Miraflores,
the modern commercial heart of Lima, where much of the
city's businesses have moved over the last thirty years, is
located 7 or 8km down Avenida Arequipa and the Zanjon, by
the ocean.
Lima's other main suburban sectors -
San Isidro, another
major modern commercial centre for banks and shopping,
Barranco and
Callao - all have their
own specific characteristics and points of interest.
[Add to this there are many districts not mentioned].
[Telephone dialing code for Lima is 01, international
0051-1].
District Lima Centro
Map
of
the Center of Lima with some tourist indications
|
With all of its splendid architectural attractions, one
would think that
Lima
Centro would have a touristy vibe, however, the
neighbourhood is very much a centre of Limeños' [Lima's
population] daily life. The main axis is formed by the
streets connecting the grand squares of the
Plaza San Martín and
Plaza Mayor. Here the
roads are narrow and busy, bringing together many of the
city's office and bank workers with slightly down-market
shops and street workers. The buildings are mostly of the
colonial or Republican eras, though, apart from a selection
of the (p.93)
best, in terms of heritage - like the
Presidential Palace and
Torre Tagle - many
are in a state of disrepair
[because of speculation with concrete and cement and
Fujimori laws for foreigners and for the government against
the general population which has not changed yet].
To the east of the Plaza Mayor, there are several fine
colonial attractions, like the [church]
Iglesia de San Francisco
and the [museum]
Museo de
la Inquisición. To the north you'll find the
slightly run-down but fascinating
Rimac suburb, home to the city's bullring
and some fine Republican public constructions. South of the
two main plazas, there are some lavish parks and galleries
within walking distance.
The Plaza Mayor
Holy ground of Pizarro
Today the heart of the old town is around the
Plaza Mayor [Main
square] - until a few years ago known as the Plaza de Armas
[Weapon square], or "armed plaza" (Plaza Armada) as the
early conquistadores [colonialists] called it. There are no
remains of any Indian heritage in or around the square;
standing on the site of Tauri Chusko's palace is the
relatively modern Palacio de Gobierno [Goverment palace],
while the cathedral occupies the site of an Inca temple once
dedicated to the Puma deity, and the Municipal Building lies
on what was originally an Inca envoy's mansion.
The
Palacio de Gobierno
[Government palace] - also known as the Presidential Palace
- was the site of
Francisco
Pizarro's house long before the present building
was conceived. It was here that he spent the last few years
of his life, until his assassination in 1541. As he died,
his jugular severed by the assassin's rapier, Pizarro fell
to the floor, drew a cross, then kissed it; even today some
believe the grounds to be sacred.
Soldiers changing the guard
The palace isn't much to look at apart from the facade,
completed in 1938, which is sufficiently opulent. The
changing of the guard
takes place outside the palace (mon-Sat starting at 11.45am)
- it's not a particularly spectacular sight, though the
soldiers look splendid in their scarlet and blue uniforms.
Offices for tours of the
town
There are free guided tours (daily 9.30am-noon) in English
and Spanish, which include watching the changing of the
guard; to go on a tour you have to register with the
Departamento de Actividades, office 201, [Jirón] Jr de la
Unión, block 2, Plaza Peru (also known as Plaza Pizarro; T.
3113908), at least 24 hours prior to when you want the tour.
You'll also get to see the imitation Baroque interior of the
palace and its rather dull collection of colonial and
reproduction furniture.
Lima cathedral and museums
- earthquakes and rebuilding
Southeast across the square, less than 50m away from the
Palacio de Gobierno [Goverment palace], the squat and
austere
Catedral
(Mon-Sat 10am-4.30pm, after 5pm for visiting the liturgies;
$1.50), designed by Francisco Becerra, was modelled on a
church from Seville, and has three aisles in a Renaissance
style. When Becerra died in 1605, the Cathedral was far from
completion. The towers alone took another forty years to
finish and, in 1746, further frustration arrived in the
guise of a devastating earthquake, which destroyed much of
the building. Overall, particularly after restorations over
the centuries due to damage, it is eclectic in style; the
current version, which is essentially a reconstruction of
Becerra's design, was rebuilt throughout the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, then again after another quake in
1940.
It [the Main square] is primarily of interest for its
Museum of Religious Art and
Treasures (daily 10am-4.30pm; $1.50), which
contains seventeenth- and eighteenth-century paintings and
some choir stalls with fine wooden carvings by Catalan
artist Pedro Noguero. Its other highlight is a collection of
human remains thought to be Pizarro's body (quite fitting
since he placed the first stone shortly before his death),
which lie in the first chapel on the right. Although gloomy,
the interior retains some of its appealing Churrigueresque
(or highly elaborate Baroque) decor. The choir stalls are
superb - exquisitely carved in the early seventeenth century
by a Catalan artist. The Archbishop's Palace next door was
rebuilt in 1924.
Directly across the square, the
La Municipalidad de Lima [Lima town hall]
(Mon-Fri 9am-1pm; free), is perpetually lined with groups of
heavily armed guards and (p.95)
The speaking frog
Stretched across this part of the valley, little is known
about the Pucllana, though it seems likely that it was
originally named after a pre-Inca chief of the area. It has
a hollow core running through its cross-section and is
believed to have been constructed in the shape of an
enormous frog, symbol of the rain god, who evidently spoke
to priests through a tube connected to the cavern at its
heart. This site may well have been the mysteriously unknown
oracle after which the Rimac (meaning "he who speaks")
Valley was named; a curious document from 1560 affirms that
the "devil" spoke at this mound. From the top of the
huaca [god] you can see
over the office buildings and across the flat roofs of
multicoloured houses in the heart of Miraflores (p.103).
Miraflores
Lima:
Map
of Miraflores with some tourist indications
|
Miraflores: Park of 7 June
(Kennedy park, Central park) - Larco Mar shopping center -
park of love
The suburb's central area focuses on the attractive, almost
triangular
Parque 7 de
Junio (Miraflores Park, [Parque Kennedy, Parque
central]) at the end of the Avenida Arequipa. The park,
nearly grassed and with some attractive flower beds, divides
into four areas of activity: at the top end is the
pedestrian junction where the shoeshiners hang out; further
down there's a small amphitheatre, which often has mime acts
or music; next you come to a raised and walled circular flat
concrete area, which has a good craft and antiques
market set up on stalls
every evening (6-10pm); and just down from here is a small
section of gardens and a children's play area. The streets
around the park are lined with flashy cafés and bars and
crowded with shoppers, flowersellers and young men washing
cars. In the park, particularly on Sundays, there are
painters selling their artwork - some quite good, though
aimed at the tourist market.
Larco Mar [shopping
center], the flash new development at the bottom of Avenida
Larco, has done an excellent job of integrating the park end
of Miraflores with what was previously a rather desolate
point. Essentially a shopping zone with patios and walkways
open to the sky, sea and cliffs, Larco Mar is also home to
several bars, ice-cream parlours, restaurants, cinemas and
nightclubs.
From the end of Avenida Arequipa, Avenida Larco and Diagonal
both fan out along the park en route to the ocean about 1km
away. Near to where Avenida Larco reaches the shore, the
small but vibrant
Parque
del Amor [Park of Love] sits on the clifftops above
the Costa Verde and celebrates the fact that for decades
this area has been a favorite haunt of young lovers,
particularly the poorer Limeños [Lima population] who have
no privacy at their often-overcrowded homes. A huge
sculpture of a loving Andean couple clasping each other
rapturously is usually surrounded by pairs of real-life
lovers walking hand-in-hand or cuddling on the clifftops
above the ocean, especially on sunday afternoons. In recent
years there were reports of muggings in and around here, but
recently it's become relatively safe again.
[As the couples hugged too much on the lawn the mayor of
Miraflores decided in 2007 that the lawn is forbidden for
humans, only dogs are permitted on the lawn...].
Museums in Miraflores: the
mansion of the historian Palma - Enrico Poli museum and
Amano museum with pre-Inca objects
Miraflores' only important mansion open to the public is the
Casa de Ricardo Palma,
at General Suarez 189 (Mon-Fri 9am-12.30pm & 2.15-5pm;
$2; T. 4455836), where Palma, probably Peru's greatest
historian, lived for most of his life.
In terms of actual museums, there are two worth visiting in
Miraflores, one of which, the
Enrico Poli Museum, [Jirón] Lord Cochrane
466 (daily, hours by appointment; $15 per person for a
minimum of five; T. 4222437), contains some of the finest
pre-Inca archaeological treasures in Lima, including
ceramics, gold and silver. The highlight of this private
collection is the treasure found at Sepan in northern Peru,
in particular four golden trumpets, each over a meter long
and over a thousand years old.
The private
Amano Museum,
on [Jirón] C Retiro 160, off block 11 of [Avenida] Angamos
Oeste (Mon-Fri, hours by appointment but usually at 3pm or
4pm, entry by donation; T. 4412909), also merits a visit for
its fabulous exhibition of [pre-Inca] Chancay weavings
(among the best of pre-Columbian textiles), as well as
beautiful ceramics.
Bus connections from the
center to Miraflores
The fastest way to get to Miraflores is to take any bus
marked "Via Expressa" [motorway] from Avenida Abancay and
get off, after about 25 minutes, at the Benavides (p.103)
Bridge [puente Benavides]. Alternatively, take a bus or
colectivo with a sign for Benavides or Chorrillos from the
first few blocks of Avenida Garcilaso de la Vega (a
continuation of Avenida Tacna) and get off at
El Haiti café/bar, the
stop just before
Parque 7
de Junio (Miraflores Park), often simply called El
Parque de Miraflores rather than by its full name (p.104).
Barranco and the Costa Verde
Colourful district of
artists and nightlife
Quieter than Miraflores, BARRANCO, about 3-4km from Larco
Mar, overlooks the ocean and is scattered with old mansions,
including fine colonial and Republican edifices, many
beginning to fall apart through lack of care
[because of poverty by Fujimori dictatorship and by civil
war and by salary cuts].
This was the capital's seaside resort during the nineteenth
century and is now a kind of Limeño Left Bank, with young
artists, writers, musicians and intellectuals taking over
some of the older properties. Only covering three square
kilometers, Barranco is quite densely populated, with some
40,000 inhabitants living in its delicately coloured houses.
The primary attractions of Barranco are its
bars, clubs and cafés
clustered around the small but busy and well-kept
Plaza Municipal de Barranco,
which buzz with frenetic energy after dark whilst retaining
much of the area's original charm and character. There's
little else to see, specifically, though you may want to
take a look at the clifftop remains of a funicular
rail-line, which used to carry aristocratic families from
the summer resort down to the beach.
The church of the Hermit -
a wooden bridge and pubs - electricity museum - and an
artifact collection
One block inland of the funicular, the impressive
Iglesia de la Ermita
(Church of the Hermit) sits on the cliff, with gardens to
its front. Local legend says that the church was built here
following a miraculous vision of a glowing Christ figure on
this very spot.
Beside the church there's the
Puente de los Suspiros, a pretty wooden
bridge crossing a gully - the Bajada de Baños - which leads
steeply down the gully to the ocean, passing exotic
dwellings lining the crumbling gully sides. A path leads
beside the church along the top edge of the gully to the
Mirador Catalina Recavarren. There's a two-storey (p.104)
pub,
La Posada del
Mirador at the end of the path near a seacliff, and
some other pleasant cafés and bars, buzzing during weekend
evenings.
Also worth a browse is the
Museo
de Electricidad, [Jirón] Pedro de Osma 105 (daily
9am-5pm; free; T. 4776577), very close to the main plaza in
Barranco, which displays a wide range of early electrical
appliances and generating techniques.
Just down the road, at [Jirón] Pedro de Osma 421, the
Museo de Arte Colonial Pedro de
Osma (Tues-Sun 10am-1pm & 2.30-6pm; $3; T.
4670063) holds a number of treasures and antiques such as
oil paintings, colonial sculptures and silverware (p.105).
-- Las Pallas, [Jirón] Cajamarca 212, Barranco, Lima, T.
4774629
A fascinating, veritable museum of artesanía, run by a
British woman who has spent most of her life collecting fine
works and who may be able to show you the rest of her
collection (ring for an appointment) (p.119).
Barranco beach "Costa
Verde"
Down beside the pounding rollers lies the
Costa Verde beach area,
so named because of vegetation clinging to the steep sandy
cliffs. A bumpy road follows the shore from an exclusive
yacht club and the Chorrillos fishermen's wharf northwest
past both Barranco and Miraflores, almost to the suburb of
Magdalena. The sea is cold and not too clean - and there's
nothing here really other than sand, pebbles, a couple of
beach clubs, a few restaurants (good for their seaside
atmosphere rather than their reputation for high cuisine)
and a resident surfing crowd. But Lima would seem sparse
without it, and swimming in the surf is as good a way as any
to extend a day exploring Barranco and Miraflores. As
everywhere else, keep a sharp eye on your clothes and
valuables (p.105).
[The beaches can be differently dirty. There are different
theories about the dirty sea. It can be dirty by the
industry, or it's a natural turn etc.]
Bus connections between the
center and Barranco
Barranco is easily reached by picking up one of the many
buses or colectivos
(those marked Barranco or Chorrillos in their front window)
travelling along Diagonal (which is one-way, from the
central park towards Larco Mar and the ocean) (p.105).
San Isidro
Unless you're shopping, banking, or simply looking for a
sauna or disco, there are few other reasons to stop off in
SAN ISIDRO. One, though, is to take a stroll through the
Bosque El Olivar [Olivar
forest], just 150m west from block 34 of Avenida Arequipa. A
charming grove first planted in 1560, it's now rather
depleted in olive trees but you can still see the old press
and millstone. There's also a stage where concerts and
cultural events are often held; the grove has developed its
own
ecosystem which
is home to over thirty different
bird species, including doves, flycatchers
and humming birds. Mostly, though, El Oliver is simply one
of Lima's relatively few large open, green spaces. A few
blocks northwest, just off Avenida El Rosario, is an
impressive reconstructed adobe
huaca [god] - including textiles oddly
reminiscent of Scottish tartans (p.105).
[Another "attraction" in San Isidro is the private Golf Club
which is forbidden for Lima's population to walk, so there
is a territory of 10 times Kennedy park blocked for the Lima
population].
Jesus Maria
The workaday suburb of
Jesus
Maria, just west of San Isidro and south of Lima
Centro, only has one real attraction: the little-visited,
but quite fascinating,
Museo
de Historia Natural Jesus Maria, Avenida Arenales
1256 (Mon-Fri 9am-3pm, Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 9am-1pm; $1.50; T.
4710117). The museum presents a comprehensive overview of
Peruvian wildlife and botany, with its highlight, a sun
fish, being one of only three known examples in the world of
this colourful fish that can be found in the American
coastal waters (p.105).
[Another attraction is the park "Mars field" ("campo de
Mars") with the national monument and much space for games
and leisure, with a public bath at the side, $4].
Pueblo Libre
Archeology Museum in Pueblo Libre
Oldest pre-Inca culture objects: tools and sculptures
The less-visited, relatively quiet backstreets of PUEBLO
LIBRE, a suburb which lies between San Isidro and Callao,
are home to a trio of Lima's major museums. Primary among
them is the
Museo Nacional
de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Peru,
on Plaza Bolívar at the corner of San Martín and Antonio
Pola (Tues-Sat 9am-5pm, Sun and fiestas [festivities]
9am-4pm; $3; (p.105)
T. 4635070), which possesses a varied exhibition of pre-Inca
artifacts and a number of historical exhibits relating
mainly to the Republican period (1821 until the late
nineteenth century). Although there's plenty to see, even
more of the museum's immense collection is in storage,
though some has shifted to the Museo de la Nación on the
other side of town (see p.109).
Recently renovated displays give a detailed and accurate
perspective on Peru's prehistory, a vision that comes as a
surprise if you'd previously thought of Peru simply in terms
of Incas and Conquistadors [colonialists]. the galleries are
set around two colonial-style courtyards, the exhibits
including stone tools some eight thousand years old, famous
carved
Chavín stones
such as the magnificent Estela Raymondi, a diorite block
intricately engraved with feline, serpent and falcon
features, and the Tello Obelisk, a masterpiece in granite.
The Manos Cruzados [crossed hands], or Crossed Hands stone
from
Kotosh [old
pre-Inca temple place in Northern Peruvian mountains] is
also on display, evidence of a mysterious cult from some
five thousand years ago.
Deformed skulls from
Paracas culture
From the
Paracas
culture there are sumptuous weavings and many excellent
examples of deformed heads and trepanned skulls: one shows
post-operative growth, and a male mummy, "frozen" at the age
of 30 to 35, has fingernails still visible and a creepy,
sideways glance fixed on his misshapen head.
Nasca sculptures
From
Nasca there
are incredible ceramics representing marine life,
agriculture, flora, sexuality, wildlife, trophy-heads, and
scenes from mythology and everyday life. The
Mochica and
Chimu cultures (see pp.
574-575) are represented, too, and there are also exhibits
devoted to the
Incas.
To get to the museum it's best to take a taxi, but there are
micro buses that run
along Avenida Brasil or Avenida Sucre, both only a few
blocks away.
National History Museum
Residence of San Martín and
Bolívar
The
Museo Nacional de
Historia (National Museum of History), adjacent to
the Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia
del Peru (same hours and ticket price) and entered by the
same door, is housed in a nineteenth-century mansion. It
displays dazzling antique clothing, extravagant furnishings,
and other period pieces, complemented by early Republican
paintings. The liberators San Martín and Bolívar both lived
here for a while.
Archeology Museum Rafael Larco Herrera
Pre-Inca ceramics
A fifteen-minute walk from here - you can literally just
follow a blue line which is worn a little now but was been
painted on the pavement north up Avenida Sucre then west
along Avenida Bolivar for ten blocks - brings you to one of
the city's most unusual museums, the
Museo Arqueologico Rafael Larco
Herrera, 1515 (daily 9am-6pm; $6; T. 4611835,
www.museolarco.perucultural.org.pe), which contains hundreds
of thousands of excellently preserved ceramics, many of them
Chiclin or Mochica pottery from around Trujillo.
The mansion itself is noteworthy as a stylish casa
Trujillana, from Trujillo, the northern city where this
collection was originally kept. The museum houses the
largest collection of Peruvian antiquities in the world and
is divided into three sections: the
main museum which
contains an incredible range of household and funerary
ceramics; the
warehouse
museum; and the
erotic
art museum, containing a selection of
sexually-themed pre-Inca artifacts, which tend to attract
the most interest.
[The Inca culture was a very strict and a war culture and
extinguished all the erotics of the previous cultures].
From Lima Centro, you can get to the museum either by bus
#23 from Avenida Abancay, by green microbus #37 from Avenida
Nicolas de Pierola, or on bus #41 from Avenida Emancipación
or Plaza Dos de Mayo; however it's much easier and quicker
to take a taxi (about $3).
San Miguel
The zoo "Parque de las
Leyendas"
Head west from the Larco Herrera museum to the end of
Avenida Bolívar, then skirt round to the southwest of the
university of La Católica campus in the suburb of San
Miguel, and you'll come to the PARQUE DE LAS LEYENDAS AND
THE ZOO (daily 9am-5pm; $2.50, $1.25 for students; (p. 107)
Arts and crafts (artesanía) shops in Lima
Crafts markets in
Miraflores
All types of Peruvian
artesanía
are available in Lima, including woolen goods, crafts and
gem stones. [The only thing is that in Lima they cost more
than in the mountains]. Some of the best in Peru are on
-- Avenida Petit Thouars between blocks 48 and 54, home to a
handful of markets between Avenida Ricardo Palma and Avenida
Angamos, all well within walking distance of Miraflores
centre. Artesanía Gran Chimu, Avenida Petit Thouars 5495,
has a wide range of jewelery and carved wooden items, as
does Mercado Artesanal [crafts market], also on Avenida
Petit Thouars, at no. 5321.
Crafts market in Pueblo
Libre (Avenida La Marina)
-- Another large artesanía market area can be visited easily
en route to Callao or the Parque de Las Leyendas, located by
the road-side blocks 6-8 of the Avenida La Marina, in Pueblo
Libre. More places selling artesanía are listed below.
Slightly cheaper are the artesanía markets on blocks 9 and
10 of Avenida La Marina in Pueblo Libre and the good crafts
and antiques market, which takes place every evening (6-9pm)
in the Miraflores Park [Parque Kennedy] between Diagonal and
Avenida Larco.
-- The
Hatun Raymi
Artesania Festival (late July / early August) is a
great gathering of Lima-based artesanía producers; it's
located on the massive esplanade of the Museo de la Nación
and entry is free.
-- In Lima Centro, the Artesania Santo Domingo, at [Jirón]
Jr Conde de Superunda 221-223 (a (p.118)
little square pavement area just a stone's throw from the
Correo Central [main post office]), is good for beads,
threads and other artesanía items.
Silverwork and jewelery in
Miraflores
For
jewelery, much
of Avenida la Paz, in Miraflores, is dedicated to silverwork
and other jewelery. In Lima Centro, Casa Wako, Jirón de la
Unión 841, is probably the best place, specializing in
reasonably priced Peruvian designs in gold and silver. The
Plateria Pereda, Jirón Venecia 186a, Miraflores, stocks fine
silver jewelery to suit most tastes, while Nasca, Avenida La
Paz 522, has a nice range of offerings, much of it in
silver. A relative newcomer, Joyeria Dennis [Jeweler
Dennis], at Larcomar (Shop 110) offers a fine and varied
selection.
Antiques in Barranco
For good-quality
antiques
there's Rafo, Martinez de Pinillos 1055, Barranco (T.
2470679), who have a good lunchtime restaurant too, and also
Collacocha, [Jirón] C Colon 534, parallel to block 11 of
Avenida Larco in Miraflores.
Some more crafts shops
Agua y Tierra
[Jirón] Diez Canseco 298, Miraflores, Lima, T. 4446980
A wide range of ethnic and traditional healing or
curanderos' [healer's]
artifacts.
Artesanías Killapura
[Jirón] Diez Canseco 392, Miraflores, Lima, T. 3328156
This store sells crafts and some edible produce from the
Andes and Peru's Amazon tribes, as does Huayruro, more or
less next door.
La Casa de Alpaca
[Jirón] La Paz 665, Miraflores, Lima
Good but expensive alpaca clothing on sale in this quality
shop.
Collacocha
[Jirón] Colon 534, parallel to block 11 of Avenida Larco,
Miraflores, Lima, T. 4474422
A small collection of Andean arts and crafts can be found
here.
Santos Alpaca
[Avenida] Larco 859, Miraflores, Lima
Excellent quality prima cotton and alpaca products available
here at quite reasonable prices (p.119)