|
Lima Maps & Attractions Guide
Lima maps & Attractions - Things to do
in Lima
|
!
Search & Compare Cheap Lima Hotels, Holidays
& Deals
|
|
?
More Information & Other Links
|
This map is interactive: Click and drag to view the map of Lima.
Zoom in using the controls provided.
Lima
Attractions - Things to do
1. Plaza Mayor and Plaza San Martin
|
What is it? A long pedestrian street crowded with
shoppers, vendors and sightseers connects Lima's two main plazas to
each other. The heart of the old town is centred on the striking
Plaza Mayor, or Plaza de Armas, gracefully colonial with its bronze
fountain and old street lamps. It was once the central marketplace,
where bullfights were held during Spanish rule. Surrounding the
square are several notable buildings, including the grand Spanish
Baroque Cathedral, occupying the site of an ancient Inca temple and
housing the Museum of Religious Art and Treasures; the impressive
Government Palace where the changing of the guard takes place; the
Town Hall; and the Archbishop's Palace sporting a beautiful wooden
balcony. The Plaza San Martin is an impressive square with a hive
of activity surrounding its central fountains; a busy area of
shoe-shiners, soapbox speakers, street artists and the site for
political rallies and rioting workers.
Hours of Operation:
Phone: |
2. Museo de la Nación (National Museum)
Avenida Javier Prado Este, San Borja
|
What is it? The superb anthropological and archaeological
National Museum contains excellent exhibits tracing the history of
Peru's ancient civilisations and provides an outstanding overview
of the archaeological richness of the country. It is the city's
largest and the country's most important museum and the
chronological layout guides visitors easily through the complicated
ancient history, highlighting the many conquering cultures and
their achievements, from the art and history of the original
inhabitants to the Inca Empire.
Hours of Operation: Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 6pm
Phone:(0)1 476 9875 or 476 9882 |
3. Museo de Oro del Peru (Gold Museum)
Avenida Alonso de Molina, Monterrico
|
What is it? Housed in a fortress-like building are the
safe-rooms crammed with treasures from the Inca civilisation and
their predecessors. The massive collection of gleaming gold,
ceremonial objects and jewellery compete for attention, and the
famous golden Tumi, the symbol of Peru, has been exhibited around
the world. The rest of the museum is just as interesting with
thousands of exquisite tapestries, pre-Incan weapons and wooden
staffs, masks, mummies, and clothing. There is also a vast display
of antique weapons and uniforms, a reminder of Peru's violent
past.
Hours of Operation: Daily 11.30am to 7pm
Phone:(0)1 345 1291, 345 1292 or 435 2917 |
4. Museo Rafael Larco Herrera
1515 Avenida Bolivar, Pueblo Libre
museolarco.perucultural.org.pe |
What is it? The 18th century colonial-style museum houses
the largest and most impressive ceramic collection in the world,
with about 55,000 pre-Colombian clay pots on display. The
collection concentrates on the refined ceramics of the Moche
Dynasty, the people who lived along the northern coast of Peru
between 200 and 700 AD. The Moche culture is recognized as
accomplishing one of the greatest imaginative languages of ancient
Peru through the use of creative pottery, providing clues to all
aspects of their civilization without the use of the written word.
One can learn about their religion, agriculture, transport, dance
and music through their ceramic designs and shapes. The Moche are
also renowned for their fascinating erotic pottery and the famous
collection is on display in the separate 'Erotic Hall', depicting
sexual practices of several Peruvian cultures in a lifelike,
explicit and often humorous way.
Hours of Operation: Daily 9am to 6pm
Phone:(0)1 461 1312 or 461 1835 |
5. Church of San Francisco
Corner of Lampa and Ancash Avenues
|
What is it? The most spectacular of Lima's colonial
churches, San Francisco is a striking white and yellow building
with twin towers and a stone façade. It was one of the few
buildings to survive the devastation of the 1746 earthquake and is
famous for its underground catacombs that contain the bones and
skulls of an estimated 70,000 people. The interior of the church
has arches and columns decorated with beautiful mosaic tiles and an
exquisitely carved Moorish-style wooden ceiling above the staircase
leading to the cloisters. The church also contains a superb 17th
century library with thousands of antique texts and a room
containing painted masterpieces by Reubens, Van Dyck and
Jordaens.
Hours of Operation: Daily 9am to 4.45pm
Phone: |
6. Pisco
|
What is it? Pisco is a small port and fishing village,
best known for its fiery white grape brandy of the same name. It
also boasts the origins of one of the major ancient civilisations
in Peru, the Paracas culture, who left an astounding collection of
antiquities that are displayed in the museums of Lima. The area is
primarily visited as a base to see the wildlife of the nearby
Paracas National Reserve, home to an incredible variety and huge
concentration of marine animals and birds. Locals proudly proclaim
it to be the 'Peruvian Galapagos', and the main focus of a visit to
the reserve is a boat tour of the Ballestas Islands. The islands
are off limits to people but the boat tours afford spectacular
close up views of the wildlife. The rocks are alive with thousands
of migratory and resident sea birds, including pelicans, flamingos,
penguins, cormorants, red boobies and terns. Huge colonies of
barking sea lions line the shores, and turtles, dolphins and
sometimes whales are seen in the surrounding waters. En route to
the islands boats pass the famous Candelabra, a
gigantic trident-shaped drawing etched into the sandstone cliffs
overlooking the bay, and like the drawings at Nazca, its origins
remain a mystery.
Hours of Operation:
Phone: |
7. Nazca
|
What is it? Nazca is a small desert town, named for the
Nazca civilisation that came after the Paracas culture, and it is a
major attraction due to the mysterious presence of the lines and
diagrams etched into the surrounding desert floor. It also has some
interesting museums and archaeological sites, including the
Chauchilla Cemetery, with 12 exposed underground tombs containing
skeletons and preserved mummified forms. The main attraction of the
town is an aerial flight over the Nazca Lines that are spread over
miles of the vast desert floor. The dimensions of these enormous
figures, geometric designs, spirals and perfectly straight lines
are so large that the only way to view them is from the air and
pilots will point out the outlines of intriguing bird and animal
representations such as the hummingbird, monkey, condor, spider,
and the unusual cartoon-like character known as the Astronaut.
These figures were made by removing sun-darkened stones from the
desert floor to expose the lighter coloured stones below, and were
created over a thousand years ago. Theories abound regarding the
mysterious desert etchings, and questions as to why they were
created, how they were designed and what technology was used,
remain unanswered and have puzzled experts for centuries. The Nazca
Lines are among the most unforgettable and strangest sights in the
country, an extraordinary legacy left by the ancient people of the
Nazca culture, and one of the great mysteries of South
America.
Hours of Operation:
Phone: |
Lima Holidays guide
|
Transport -Driving in Lima is hazardous.
More information at the |
|
|
! Bookmark
Page
| Travel Alerts FREE newsletter - cheap flight alerts + more!
Subscribe now. |
|
