Plaza Mayor And Surroundings, Lima

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Plaza de Armas (also called Plaza Mayor) is located in the Historic Centre of Lima. It is a place of historical importance as the city of Lima was founded here in 1535 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, and in 1821, José San Martin proclaimed the Independence of Peru at the same spot.

What’s more natural than to start sightseeing in Lima at the city’s birthplace? That’s what we did and went for a walk around the square. A few palm trees, an old bronze fountain from 1650 and many colourful and impressive buildings. The buildings from the days of Francisco Pizarro are long gone, but the present buildings were absolute worth a closer look: The Cathedral (the oldest building from 1746 (read my tip)), the Archbishop's Palace, the Municipal Palace, Palacio Nacional, the Government Palace (Palacio de Gobierno), and a few other important buildings.

When you are done with Plaza de Armas, there are several other interesting buildings and churches within a few blocks from the square, for example the San Francisco Church and Monastery (read my tip). You should also take a stroll along the oldest street of Lima, Jirón de la Union. It connects Plaza de Armas with Plaza San Martin and has lots of shops and restaurants.

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You might as well take a stroll around Plaza Mayor if you’re going to visit the San Francisco Monastery, because it’s scarcely two blocks away. The Plaza used to be the main square in Lima. There’s an old bronze fountain and several important government buildings situated here, including the President’s Palace, but the palm trees were my favorite thing. The day we were here there was some event going on with a band playing and a crowd, which made for a lively local experience.

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Is the historical center of the city, and where the most important buildings of the city are located. The Plaza was the headquarters of the Spanish Colonial Governement and was heavily damaged during the 1746 earthquake, after the quake the Plaza was rebuilt. Here are located the Cathedral, the Governement Palace, the Archbisop Palace and the Palacio Municipal (City Hall).

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Although the Archbishop's Palace has baroque elements and ornate cedar balconies which are located over the main doors - elements which might make you think it was old, it was really only constructed in the mid 1920s. It is next to the Cathedral on the Plaza de Armas and is the residence of the Archbishop of Lima, and the administrative headquarters of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lima.

It is listed as It is a popular tourist attraction but I don't know if it is open to the public. We didn't go in.

The first major church began construction in 1535. Pope Paul III turned it into an episcopal seat in 1541. In 1547, Lima was elevated to an archdiocese, which turned it by a short period, in the more extensive ecclesiastical circumscription of the world. The patron of the episcopal seat is Saint Rosa of Lima

Located on the land that Francisco Pizarro allocated to be the residence of the head priest of Lima after the foundation of the city in 1535, the current building was opened on December 8, 1924.

The palace was designed by the Polish Peruvian architect Ricardo de Jaxa Malachowski. The location formerly belonged to the city's first police station and the city's first jail.

There is a granite sculpture of Saint Turibius of Mongrovejo the patron protector of the Archdiocese. The palace also displays two flagpoles, one for the Peruvian flag and another for flag of the Vatican. The interior has a sculpture of Santa Barbara the patron of Cuba. The ceiling is illuminated by famous French stained glass windows and the interior also contains marble staircases with wooden handrails.

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This pedestrian streets connects the Plaza de Armas and the Plaza San Martín. It used to be a very important and aristocrat street, nowadays it's mainly a shopping street, but you can find many interesting building while you walk along. Don't forget this is a very busy street in Lima, so be careful with your belongings while walking around... it should be ok, I was there in the night time and it didn't feel dangerous, but you should watch out just in case!

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This very impressive building is the residence of the Archbishop of Lima, and holds the administration of the archdiocese. It's located in the Plaza de Armas, next to the Cathedral. Most impressive are the balconies which belong to the "neo-colonial" style, that was developed in the 20th century.

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This is the main square in Lima, it's where in the 16th century Francisco Pizarro located the center of the city. The square has hosted some of the most important events in the history of the city, and you can find many important buildings in it, such as the Cathedral, the Government Palace, the Cityhall, the Archbishop Palace and the Club de la Unión.

The Plaza de Armas (also known as Plaza Mayor) of Lima is a World Heritage Site, declared by UNESCO. Along its two sides, there are arcades with shops - Portal de Escribanos and Portal de Botoneros. The surrounding buildings are of lovely colonial architecture with wooden balconies and grilled ornate windows.

The Cathedral was reduced to rubble during an earthquake in the 1700s. This is a reconstruction with amazing silver-covered altars, fine woodwork, walls of intricate mosaic designs.

San Francisco, on the other hand, withstood the same earthquake. This monastery is famous for the tilework and ceiling in the cloisters. There are interesting catacombs under the church that can be visited.

There are many other buildings that visitors can admire. They include the Palacio Torre Tagle (Jr Ucayali 363), Casa Aliaga (Union 224), Casa de la Rada (Jr Ucayali 358), San Pedro (Jr Ucayali), etc...

Rio Rimac is the pretty-dry river that cuts through the centre. If you observe under the bridge, you may sometimes spot some young boys.

My host told me these are the 'piranhas'. They are the type of robbers who attack tourists, usually those who just arrived, tired, from a night bus, in droves of up to 20. They just attack the poor guy, slipping their hands into every pocket and crevice on the tourist, underneath the shirt, stripping the tourist of his backpack and carting the backpack off.