Museum sights in Peru
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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…
reviewed
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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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Yavari
The much-loved Yavari is the oldest steamship on Lake Titicaca. In 1862 the Yavari and its sister ship, the Yapura, were built in Birmingham, England, of iron parts - a total of 2766 for the two vessels. These were shipped around Cape Horn to Arica, from where they were moved by train to Tacna, before being hauled by mule over the Andes to Puno - an incredible undertaking that took six years to complete.
The ships were assembled in Puno and the Yavari was launched on Christmas Day 1870. The Yapura was later renamed the BAP Puno and became a Peruvian Navy medical ship; it can still be seen in Puno. Both had coal-powered steam engines, but due to a shortage of coal, the…
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El Complejo De Belén
This sprawling colonial complex was constructed entirely from volcanic rock between 1627 and 1774. In what used to be the women's hospital, there's now a small archaeology museum and an unimpressive art museum. Once run by nuns, 31 tiny, cell-like bedrooms line the walls of the T-shaped building.
The hospital's facade has a fascinating statue of a woman with four breasts. Carved by local artisans, it supposedly represents an affliction (supernumery nipples, that is) commonly found in one of the nearby towns.
The baroque church next door is one of Cajamarca's finest, with a prominent cupola and a well-carved pulpit. There are several interesting wood carvings, including an…
reviewed
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Museo Santury
Officially the Museo de la Universidad Católica de Santa María, this museum exhibits ‘Juanita, the ice princess’ – the frozen body of an Inca maiden sacrificed on the summit of Nevado Ampato, a snow-covered volcano to the northwest of Arequipa, more than 500 years ago. Multilingual tours (available in Spanish, English, French, German and Italian) consist of a video followed by an examination of various burial artifacts, culminating in a respectful viewing of the frozen mummy, preserved in a carefully monitored glass-walled exhibition freezer. Although Juanita is not on display from January to April, another child sacrifice discovered in the mountains around Arequipa is…
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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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Museo de Arte Popular
The Museo de Arte Popular is in the 18th-century Casa Chacón, adjoining the Banco de Crédito. The popular art covers the ayacucheño (natives of Ayacucho) spectrum – silverwork, rug- and tapestry-weaving, stone and woodcarvings, ceramics (model churches are especially popular) and the famous retablos (ornamental religious dioramas). These are colorful wooden boxes varying in size and containing intricate papier-mâché models; Peruvian rural scenes or the nativity are particularly popular, but some interesting ones with political or social commentary can be seen here. Old and new photographs show how Ayacucho changed during the 20th century. Opening hours here change…
reviewed
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Museo de Arte Precolombino
Inside a Spanish colonial mansion with an Inca ceremonial courtyard, this dramatically curated pre-Columbian art museum showcases a stunningly varied, if selectively small, collection of archaeological artifacts previously buried in the vast storerooms of Lima’s Museo Larco. Dating from between 1250 BC and AD 1532, the artifacts show off the artistic and cultural achievements of many of Peru’s ancient cultures, with exhibits labeled in Spanish, English and French.
Highlights include the Nazca and Moche galleries of multicolored ceramics, queros (ceremonial Inca wooden drinking vessels) and dazzling displays of jewelry made with intricate gold- and silverwork.
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Cathedral
The 17th-century cathedral, on the Plaza de Armas, has a religious-art museum. The cathedral and a dozen other colonial churches from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries are well worth a visit for their incredibly ornate facades and interiors, mainly Spanish baroque but often with Andean influences evinced by the plants and animals depicted. Ayacucho claims to have 33 churches (one for each year of Christ's life) but there are in fact several more.
The most important of Ayacucho's churches are marked on the map. Except for during Semana Santa (when churches are open for most of the day), opening hours are erratic; ask at the tourist office.
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Museo de Arte Virreinal de Santa Teresa
This gorgeous 17th-century Carmelite convent was only recently opened to the public as a living museum. The colonial-era buildings are justifiably famed for their decoratively painted walls and restored rooms filled with priceless votive objets d’art, murals, precious metalworks, colonial-era paintings and other historical artifacts. It is all capably explained by student tour guides who speak Spanish, English, French, German and Portuguese; tips are appreciated. A charming shop at the front of the complex sells baked goods and rose-scented soap made by the nuns.
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Museo Didáctico Antonini
On the east side of town, this excellent archaeological museum boasts an aqueduct running through the back garden, as well as interesting reproductions of burial tombs, a valuable collection of ceramic pan flutes and a scale model of the Lines. You can get an overview of both the Nazca culture and a glimpse of most of Nazca’s outlying sites here. Though the exhibit labels are in Spanish, the front desk lends foreign-language translation booklets for you to carry around. To get to the museum follow Bolognesi to the east out of town for 1km, or take a taxi (S2).
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Museo Arqueológico
The small university-run Museo Arqueológico is worth visiting; just knock on the door to enter. Its varied ceramics collection includes a few examples of pots from the Cajamarca culture and an unusual collection of ceremonial spears, also from the same period. The Cajamarca culture, which existed here before the Inca empire conquered the region, is little studied and relatively unknown.
The museum also has black-and-white photographs of historic and prehistoric sites in the Cajamarca area; its director is knowledgeable, and is willing to talk about the exhibits.
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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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Museo Arqueológico Hipólito Unanue
The Museo Arqueológico Hipólito Unanue is in the Centro Cultural Simón Bolívar at the university, located more than 1km from the town center along Independencia – you can’t miss it. Wari ceramics make up most of the small exhibition, along with relics from the region’s other various civilizations. While there, check out the university library for a free exhibition of mummies, skulls and other niceties. The buildings are set in a botanical garden. The best time to visit the museum is in the morning: afternoon hours sometimes aren’t adhered to.
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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 Cassinelli
The Museo Cassinelli is a private archaeological collection housed in the basement of a gas station. The museum is fascinating, with hundreds of pieces that certainly don’t belong under a gritty petrol dispensary. Have a look at the bird-shaped whistling pots, which produce clear notes when air is blown into them (ask the curator to show you). Superficially the pots are very similar, but when they are blown each produces a completely different note that corresponds to the calls of the male and female birds.
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Coca Museum
Puno’s tiny, quirky Coca Museum offers lots of interesting information – historical, medicinal, cultural – about the coca plant and its many uses. Presentation isn’t that interesting, though: reams of text (in English only) stuck to the wall interspersed with photographs and old Coca-Cola advertisements. The display of traditional costumes is what makes a visit to this museum worthwhile. Though its relation to coca is unfathomable, it’s a boon for making sense of the costumes worn in street parades.
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Museo de Sitio Manuel Chávez Ballón
This museum has superb information in Spanish and English on the archaeological excavations of Machu Picchu and Inca building methods. Stop here before or after the ruins to get a sense of context (and to enjoy the air-conditioning and soothing music if you’re walking back from the ruins after hours in the sun!)
There’s a small botanical garden outside, down a nifty, nerve-testing set of Inca stairs. It’s by Puente Ruinas, at the base of the footpath to Machu Picchu.
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Museo Regional de Ica
In suburban San Isidro, don’t miss this gem of a museum. It has an impressive collection of artifacts from the Paracas, Nazca and Inca cultures, including superb examples of Paracas weavings, as well as textiles made of feathers. There are beautiful Nazca ceramics, scarily well-preserved mummies of everything from children to a small macaw, trepanned skulls and shrunken trophy heads, enormous wigs and tresses of hair. Out back look for a scale model of the Nazca Lines.
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Museo Inka
The charmingly modest Museo Inka, a steep block northeast of the Plaza de Armas, is the best museum in town for those interested in the Incas. The restored interior is jam packed with a fine collection of metal- and goldwork, jewelry, pottery, textiles, mummies, models and the world’s largest collection of queros. There’s excellent interpretive information in Spanish and English-speaking guides are usually available for a small fee.
The museum building, which rests on Inca foundations, is also known as the Admiral’s House, after the first owner, Admiral Francisco Aldrete Maldonado. It was badly damaged in the 1650 earthquake and rebuilt by Pedro Peralta de los Ríos,…
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Museo Ferroviario
The Museo Ferroviario is located inside the train station - just ring the bell at the southern gates - gives the impression of stepping back in time. You can wander amid beautiful though poorly maintained 20th-century steam engines and rolling stock, plus atmospheric salons filled with historic paraphernalia, including a curious collection of international postage stamps, all to the tune of the lonely tap-tapping of the station master's ancient typewriter.
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