Museum sights in Lima
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Museo Rafael Larco Herrera
An 18th-century viceroy mansion built on the site of a pre-Columbian pyramid houses the highly recommended privately-run Museo Rafael Larco Herrera , has one of the largest ceramics collections to be found anywhere.
It is said to include over 50,000 pots, many of which were collected in the 1920s by a former vice president of Peru. The first rooms resemble a storeroom, stacked right to the ceilings with an overwhelming jumble of ceramics. Further into the museum, the best pieces are displayed in the uncluttered manner they deserve. They include a selection of gold and silver pieces, feathered textiles and an astonishing Paracas weaving that contains 398 threads to the…
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Museo de Oro del Perú
The now notorious Museo de Oro del Perú, a private museum, was a Lima must-see until 2001, when a study revealed that 85% of the museum’s metallurgical pieces were fakes. It reopened with an assurance that works on display are bona fide – and some vitrines bear cards that classify certain pieces as ‘reproductions’ – but the cluttered, poorly signed exhibits leave something to be desired. Better presented and more convenient is the new annex ( [tel] 620-6222; www.larcomar.com/salamuseo; LarcoMar, Malecón de la Reserva 610, Miraflores; admission S25; [hrs] 10am-10pm), in the seaside shopping mall of LarcoMar.
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Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología e Historía del Perú
The Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología e Historía del Perú traces the history of Peru from the Preceramic Period to the early republic. Displays include the famous Raimondi Stela, a 2.1m rock carving from the Chavín culture, one of the first Andean cultures to have a widespread, recognizable artistic style. The building was once the home of revolutionary heroes San Martín (from 1821 to 1822) and Bolívar (from 1823 to 1826) and the museum contains late-colonial and early republic paintings, including an 18th-century rendering of the Last Supper in which Christ and his disciples feast on cuy (guinea pig).
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Museo Taurino
The Plaza de Acho, Lima’s bullring, has been located on the same site north of the Río Rímac since 1766. Here, some of the world’s most famous toreadors have taken on the bulls, among them the renowned Manolete from Spain. The Museo Taurino documents this history with cluttered displays of weapons, paintings, photographs and the gilded outfits worn by a succession of bullfighters – one of which includes gore holes and blood.
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Museo de Historia Natural
One block west of cuadra 12 of Av Arequipa, south of the Parque de la Reserva, the Museo de Historia Natural, run by the Universidád de San Marcos, has a modest taxidermy collection that’s a useful overview of Peruvian fauna.
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Museo de la Nación
A brutalist concrete tower houses the catch-all Museo de la Nación, which provides a cursory overview of Peru’s civilizations, from Chavín stone carvings and the knotted rope quipus of the Incas to artifacts from the colony. Large traveling international exhibits are also shown here (often for an extra fee), but if there is a single reason to visit this museum, it is to view a permanent installation on the 6th floor called Yuyanapaq. The exhibit, named after the Quechua word meaning ‘to remember, ’ was created by Peru’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission in 2003 and is a moving and beautifully installed photographic tribute to the Internal Conflict (1980–2000).…
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Convento de Los Descalzos
At the end of Alameda de los Descalzos, an attractive, if forgotten, avenue, is this 16th-century convent and museum, run by the Descalzos (‘the Barefooted, ’ a reference to Franciscan friars). Visitors can see old wine-making equipment in the kitchen, a refectory, an infirmary and the monastic cells. There are also some 300 colonial paintings, including noteworthy canvases by renowned Cuzco School artist Diego Quispe Tito. Spanish-speaking guides will show you around (for a tip); tours last 45 minutes. Taxis from the Plaza Mayor start at about S10.
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Museo de la Inquisición
A graceful neoclassical structure facing the Plaza Bolívar houses this diminutive museum, where the Spanish Inquisition once plied its trade. In the 1800s, the building was expanded and rebuilt into the Peruvian senate. Today, guests can tour the basement, where morbidly hilarious wax figures are stretched on racks and flogged – to the delight of visiting eight-year-old boys. The old 1st-floor library retains a remarkable baroque wood ceiling. Entry is by half-hour guided tours, conducted in Spanish and English, after which you are free to wander.
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Arms Museum
The Arms Museum, housed in the top half of the Museo de Oro del PerÚ, is reputedly the largest in the world and even those with no interest in guns can't fail to be fascinated by the mammoth collection of ancient and bizarre firearms. Look for the 2m-long blunderbuss with a 5cm bore and a flaring, trumpetlike muzzle. Though it looks more suitable for hunting elephants, this 19th-century gun was supposedly a mere duck-hunting rifle.
Photography is prohibited. A taxi from Miraflores costs around US$2 to "USD>2.50.
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Museo Banco Central de Reserva del Perú
Housed in a graceful bank building, the Museo Banco Central de Reserva del Perú is a well-presented overview of several millennia of Peruvian art, from pre-Columbian gold and pottery to a selection of 19th- and 20th-century Peruvian canvases. Don’t miss the dozen watercolors by Pancho Fierro, on the top floor, which provide an unparalleled view of dress and class in 19th-century Lima. Identification is required for admittance.
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Museo de la Cultura Peruana
About half a dozen blocks west of the Plaza San Martín, on a traffic-choked thoroughfare, resides the Museo de la Cultura Peruana, a repository of Peruvian folk art. The collection, consisting of elaborate retablos (religious dioramas) from Ayacucho, historic pottery from Puno and works in feather from the Amazon, is displayed in a building whose exterior facade is inspired by pre-Columbian architecture.
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Parque de la Muralla
During the 17th century, the heart of Lima was ringed by a muralla (city wall), much of which was torn down in the 1870s, as the city expanded. However, you can view a set of excavated remains at the Parque de la Muralla, where, in addition to the wall, a small on-site museum (with erratic hours) details the development of the city and a few objects.
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Fundación Museo Amano
The well-designed Fundación Museo Amano features a fine private collection of ceramics, with a strong representation of wares from the Chimú and Nazca cultures. It also has a remarkable assortment of lace and other textiles produced by the coastal Chancay culture. Museum visits are allowed by a one-hour guided tour only, in Spanish or Japanese.
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Museo Pedro de Osma
Housed in a lovely beaux arts mansion surrounded by gardens, this undervisited museum has an exquisite collection of colonial furniture, silverwork and art, some of which dates back to the 1500s. Among the many fine pieces, standouts include a 2m-wide canvas that depicts a Corpus Christi procession in turn-of-the-17th-century Cuzco.
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Museo de la Electricidad
The Museo de la Electricidad has a small exhibit on electricity in Lima, including the electric tramway system that used to link Barranco with Miraflores and Lima. Outside, a restored electric tram runs along rails for a few blocks of Av San Pedro de Osma on weekends.
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Museo Enrico Poli Bianchi
The pricey, private Museo Enrico Poli Bianchi holds a lavish collection of gold textiles, colonial silver and paintings featured in National Geographic, and is only available by prearranged tours in Spanish.
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Asociación Museo del Automóvil
The Asociación Museo del Automóvil has an impressive array of classic cars dating back to 1901, from a Ford Model T to a Cadillac Fleetwood that was used by no fewer than four Peruvian presidents.
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Museo Postal y Filatélico
Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the Peruvian mail system can be found at the Museo Postal y Filatélico, next to the main post office.
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