Book Lima attraction tickets

Few cities in South America carry as much layered history as Lima, the Peruvian capital that stretches along the Pacific coast between the Andes foothills and the cold Humboldt Current. Founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1535 on the banks of the Rímac river, it grew into the most powerful city in Spanish colonial South America, a status still legible in the grand plazas and baroque churches of its historic centre, which UNESCO recognised as a World Heritage Site in 1991.

The Centro Histórico remains the most concentrated expression of that past. The Plaza Mayor anchors the district, flanked by the Government Palace, the Cathedral, and the Archbishop's Palace with its intricately carved wooden balconies. A short walk away stands the Monastery of San Francisco, one of the finest examples of Spanish colonial religious architecture on the continent. Its catacombs, which held the remains of an estimated 70,000 people before a proper cemetery was established, draw visitors who want to understand Lima not as a postcard but as a place with genuine depth. The Lima Walking Tour and San Francisco Monastery experience available through the catalogue brings both the street-level texture of the old city and this remarkable complex together in a single outing, which suits first-time visitors who want orientation before they explore independently.