Tourist Attractions & Monuments Peru

From its foundation in 1579 until its opening to the public in 1970, the monastery lived jealously closed in on itself; even today, it houses a few nuns who have taken their vows of total isolation. Wealthy families sent their daughters there, along with a solid dowry that would add to the monastery's coffers. The first nun was Doña María de Guzmán. Widow of Diego Hernández de Mendoza, young, rich, beautiful and childless, she gave up all her possessions to live as a recluse. On September 10, 1579, the deed of foundation of the Monastery was signed on four plots of land belonging to the city and Doña María de Guzmán was named "first inhabitant and prioress". On October 2, 1580, during a solemn mass, Doña María was recognized as the founder and formally took the habit. The women who entered were Creoles, mestizos or even daughters of Inca dignitaries. In 1964 the monastery received its first Spanish nuns. In 1582 the monastery was seriously damaged by an earthquake and the nuns themselves repaired their cells. There is even an aspirant to sainthood, Sister Ana de Los Angeles, whose canonization never came to fruition. Born in 1604, she entered the monastery at the age of 3 to complete her education and was taken out of it at the age of 10 or 11 to be married. But a vision made her return to the Monastery of her own free will. She was prioress for a period of 3 years during which austerity was de rigueur. She is credited with 68 predictions, most of them about the imminent death of one of the other sisters or the unexpected healing of another. When she died in 1686, she was not embalmed because her body had a pleasant smell and ten years later when she was dug up, her body had not suffered any damage. Miracle healings are attributed to her post-mortem.

A visit to the place gives an idea of what this monastic life could have been like: tiny rooms-cells, a private kitchen and a room for the maid (also cloistered), painted in ochre, brown and red tones. The Zocodober plaza with its fountain, the blue and orange hues of the cloisters surrounded by arcades with innocent frescoes, however, add a note of cheerfulness. With its 20,000 square metres, this religious fortress is absolutely unique.

The vaults house an archaeological museum with pieces from the Chimú and Nazca cultures.

A guided tour in French is recommended. In the morning, the light falls wonderfully.

A very beautiful and spacious square, with a nice central fountain, palm trees, the immaculate cathedral in the background and the volcanoes in the distance. Very pleasant to sit there in the sun and watch the time go by. You can also see many locals who take their quarters there. Many photographers (with a film camera!) will offer you to immortalize the moment in front of the fountain with the cathedral in the background.

Once night falls, the cathedral lights up and often musicians bring out their instruments to liven up the early evening.

The fortress of Ollantaytambo, which blocked the access to the Sacred Valley in direction of Cusco and Machu Picchu, was not finished when Pizarro landed, as the blocks scattered on the ground testify. The summit is reached through a series of agricultural terraces by a particularly steep staircase. A ten-niche temple housing the mummies overlooks the Temple of the Sun, made up of six gigantic monoliths weighing around fifty tons (we still wonder how they were hoisted up there). Higher up, adobe and dry-stone dwellings merge with the rock and a walkway runs around the spur to other dwellings, with, at the bottom, pools and baths fed by channels cut into the rock (some stones bear scratches, traces of the cutting). On the mountain opposite, where you can see the face of a strange bearded man, the military school and the prison mark the limits of the settlement. It is also possible to go there and access it freely for those who have not paid the boleto turistico, it is called Pinkuylluna. The citadel is entered and exited through two monumental gates in the adobe and rough stone walls. A craft market has been established in the square below the site.

A visit with impact, because the fortress is literally embedded in a circus of rocks and the higher you go, the more the landscape opens up. A magical experience.

Inscribed on the List of the cultural heritage of the Humanity since 1994, this archaeological complex, formed by an immense network of lines and drawings of animals and plants attributed to the Nazca culture, but of which we do not know much, is mysterious to say the least... These lines, which cover a surface of some 350 km², were discovered by Paul Kosok in 1939. They were then studied by Hans Horkheimer and Maria Reiche, the latter having devoted the last 50 years of her life to them.

We can see some figures to the km 420 of the Panamericana, to 25 km of Nazca, from the top of a mirador of 12 m of height (S/ 2 the access): a hand, a lizard and a tree. One distinguishes clearly the figures, but one does not catch the amplitude of the accomplished work. Also a mirador in Palpa (S/ 2 the access).

By plane, you can see the whole area for 30 minutes (prefer early morning departures for less waiting at the airport and because it is often too windy in the afternoon for the planes to take off). The main companies have planes for four to seven passengers that can reach speeds of up to 220 km/hour. Beware, it's a bumpy ride! Don't plan to have a big breakfast before taking off... Also be aware that the French Embassy advises against flying over the lines while waiting for the implementation of safety measures since the accidents of 2008 and 2010 and recently in February 2022.

Some overflights (longer) also pass over the Palpa lines, new figures discovered a short time ago.

The site of Pisaq is a good alternative for those who are put off by the oppressive mass of tourists flocking to Machu Picchu. If you go to the site early enough, you will have the chance to be almost alone and you may see hummingbirds gorging on cantuta in the thickets, in which case you should make the opening. Ideally, you should be able to visit the archaeological site in the afternoon against the flow of the rest of the tourists. Most of the tour agencies make several visits in the Sacred Valley and start with Pisaq.

Smaller, but no less incredible, these ruins offer an equally fantastic dive into Inca culture. From the village, the ascent allows to discover little by little the valley and the confluence of the Urubamba river and its tributary the Wilcamayu, by taking the path that leaves next to the church of the Plaza de la Constitucion (at the gatehouse, you show your boleto). You will discover steep terraces (still cultivated) that make you dizzy. These terraces were first dug to stabilize the mountain. Then they were cultivated. After having gone along them, we discover the ingenious system of canalisations, and before arriving at Pisaqa (where the food of the citadel city was stored), we notice on the right many holes in the mountain. It is in reality the cemetery (vertical) of the city. If you look carefully, you can see (on the right) a small building where a mummy was recently found! This young woman was on her knees, her hands clenched as if from scratching. It is assumed that she had been badly drugged, that she woke up and died of suffocation.

Nearby, a path leads to two high adobe houses with cane roofs. Higher still, the ceremonial centre of Intihuatana wraps its carved stone walls around the Temple of the Sun, enclosing the solar calendar. The end of the tunnel cut into the mountain can be seen, only to be passed in single file and broken in two; this improbable access made the temple unreachable. Beyond is a complex called Q'allaq'ana, with pools and fountains, and then the residential area of Q'anchisraq'ay, entirely fortified with a crenellated wall. If you have less time, a good idea is to take a taxi up to the village and walk back down. The magic of the site lies in its size and its harmony with the surrounding landscape.

The Sunday market is worth a visit. In the lower part of the village, there is a bit of bartering between colors and strong scents (coca, muña, hierba luisa, rudas, as many plants to be infused), but tourism changes the deal. In the upper part, on the vast square of the white church with its Inca walls, the handicraft merchants. What remains of authenticity is expressed in the palavers, accompanied by force chicha, between the Indians in traditional dress. Underneath are the terraces where visitors stroll. Small museum on site, entrance S/ 7.

Buried under the sand, it is one of the most impressive pre-Incan cities of Peru. In the Muchik language, spoken on the coast before the arrival of the Incas, Chan Chan means "where there was sun". It was the capital of the Chimú Empire which shone from the 9th to the 15th century, after having supplanted the Mochica kingdom (4th to 9th century). It was inscribed by Unesco on the List of Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 1986. The world's largest earthen city covered an area of 14 km² and included no less than 28 palaces where some 150,000 people would have lived. It is believed that the Chimu civilization was military with a lord and master of each valley.

Of this grandiose city, only theadobe

walls remain today, which the storms continue to erode. There are still nine palaces standing. Of the palaces of Chaiwac, Uhle, Laberinto, Gran Chimú, Squier, Velarde, Bandalier and Nik An, several have been restored and copies of the original friezes installed to give a more accurate idea of the place. They are scattered along the Pan-American Highway and the most impressive one, Palacio Nik An, is visited.

The Palacio Nik An (the palace of the center in Muchik language) - ex-Palacio Tschudi - is a monumental complex that is breathtaking: you walk between the brick walls, some of which are 13 m high, and you open onto immense spaces, the patios. The walls are filled with bas-reliefs representing fish, birds, fantastic animals and squirrels in a repetitive and bewitching way. The spaces are each time divided into 3 levels: the smooth sky, the sea represented by lines and waves and the earth and its animals. A central space, now populated by reeds, was one of the largest purifying baths. Nearly 140 water wells have been found all around Chan Chan, 90% of which are inside the palaces: he who possessed the water possessed the power. It is here in this immense palace that the Festival of the Dead and its sacred mummies were celebrated, for which the inhabitants brought tributes from all over the valley, so we think that a large part of it was also a granary or depository for all the offerings.

Note that Chan Chan includes four sites rather spaced: the main complex called Palacio Nik An, the site museum (rather basic), Huaca Esmeralda and Huaca Arco Iris. It is also worthwhile to negotiate a taxi to go from one site to the other.

The convent was built above the Qoricancha, the gold district in Quechua, whose temple of the Sun occupied, in the feline configuration of the city, the sex. Embellished by Pachacútec, the temple, from the top of its promontory, dominated a series of terraced gardens whose upper platform served as a foundation for the various temples dedicated to the deities: Sun, Stars, Moon, Rainbow... In the middle stands, mute, a ceremonial fountain made of massive stone. The whole, embedded in the convent, is the most beautiful example of the building skills of the Incas. It is a pity that the church built above it by the conquistadores has somewhat dulled the Inca work. But one cannot but be transported by the sober beauty of the temples of the Sun (Inti), of the Moon (Qilla) and of Venus (Chaska), daughter of the previous ones. The interior of all the temples was covered with gold leaf - silver for that of the Moon - and contained, it is assumed, the mummies of the wives and concubines of the sons of the Sun. The gardens were decorated with gold figurines that the conquistadores hastened to melt into ingots. Built immediately after the conquest, Santo Domingo was destroyed by the earthquakes of 1650 and 1950. It was during the latter earthquake that the fragments of the ancient temples were discovered. Of the church, the baroque bell tower from the 17th century is worth mentioning and, in the cloister, the pinacoteca with its colonial paintings.

In a colonial casona marvel of modern Lima, the most important pre-Columbian private collection gathers more than 45,000 pieces. Beautiful Paracas textiles, including a fabric with 398 strands in a square inch and stone sculptures from Chavín de Huantar. Without forgetting the bóveda, the chest containing objects made of metals and precious stones, of which a fabulous complete set of chimú dignitary: pectoral, bracelets, diadem, earrings.

The Larco Museum owes much of its well-deserved reputation to its erotic ceramics. Here, the objects of the Mochica culture are exhibited. These fine craftsmen, whose morals were unbridled, depicted all the stages of the sexual life of their contemporaries, with great crudity, without omitting either the most scabrous details or the venereal risks incurred. The other unique curiosity of this museum is the "depósito", a store where thousands of ceramics are stored on shelves and by category (women - a rare theme in these cultures - vampires, wars, sacrifices, flowers...). Another good point: the panels are written in Spanish, English, French, Italian, German and Japanese. Nice café-restaurant with a terrace under a bougainvillea (pasta, local Creole dishes, dishes for children). This is THE visit to make, as the staging and presentation of the exhibits is quite unique in Peru. Specialist professional guides are available, in French, please book.

Itis in the Huaca de la Luna that the remains of 107 sacrificed warriors and numerous polychrome bas-reliefs were unearthed. We explore the site via stairs installed all along the building to have a better view on the friezes. Unfortunately, everything is quite degraded, but the remaining friezes marvel at their detail and color. Archaeologists say that more than 250,000 people participated in its construction. Its construction lasted no less than 600 years!

We find there especially Aie Paec painted of red and ochre, the god with the teeth of feline surrounded by birds and snake, which represents the mountain when Cico paec is the marine god surrounded by waves. The most impressive wall is located on the back part of the huaca: 6 floors of distinct friezes with the procession of the winners and losers chained, the priests, the spiders, the fishermen and so on successively

Around the years 600 or 650, the region undergoes chronic El Niño phenomena which leads to a social revolt since neither the priests nor the nobles manage to control the climate and then a progressive migration which will give birth to the neighboring Chan Chan built on a terraced ground which allows the water to filter. In spite of everything, the Huaca del Sol et de la Luna remains a place of worship, of homage to the ancestors buried here.

The Huaca del Sol is the highest in Peru with its 45 m. It is not open to the public and has not yet been the subject of extensive excavations. It is imposing and photogenic, compared to its neighbor which was gradually deconstructed to access the treasures it contained.

The museum,subsidized by private funds, is very didactic and rich. A visit not to be missed. Here we find the offerings with which the dead were buried. You can also see anthropomorphic animals, realistic portraits where the features are drawn with precision and scenes of sacrifice. Today we think that sacrifices were not so frequent, but that a special caste was raised and trained for the office of fighter, a bit like noble gladiators. In crucial moments, such as the El Niño phenomenon, fights were organized and the winners and losers were separated. The defeated ones remained between 10 or 15 days to be prepared for their ultimate sacrifice. Finally, some huari ceramics testify to the last phase of occupation of the place.

The Compañía represents the most complete form of 16th-century architecture. It is in the mixed baroque style of the Arequipa school and, together with the Cathedral of Puno, is its finest achievement. The lateral façade of worked stone shows Santiago (Saint James) in a characteristic attitude of killer of Moors. Don't forget to visit the sublime Capilla de San Ignacio with its polychrome dome entirely covered with plant, animal and mineral motifs.

Dating from 1739, this double cloister, where a stone fountain murmurs, shows galleries supported by elaborate pillars where cherubs flutter. Today it houses a shopping centre with many shops specialising in alpaca clothing and art galleries. A few restaurants and cafes/bars have also set up shop. Great view from the first floor, where you can walk around and even have a drink on the terrace. At the end of the courtyard, a small chapel with a beautiful painted ceiling. Not to be missed!

A place that deserves a visit, perfect for families! A total of 13 extraordinary fountains will delight your senses with their lighting and music. Fuente magica, Fuente de la fantasia de 120 m, Fuente del arco iris: it is the largest circuit of water jets in the world! The vast park is ideal for walking and daydreaming. The "sound and light" show is impressive, it can be seen at 7.15 pm, 8.15 pm and 9.30 pm. An ideal place with the children or to refresh itself during the summer. To end the discovery of Lima in the evening.

100 km from Huaraz and 32 km from Caraz, this lake has the largest surface area in the Cordillera Blanca. Caught between Artesonraju, Pirámide de Garcilaso and Chacraraju, three nevados that approach 6,000 m, Parón is, at 4,185 m, in its wild setting with green waters, one of the main attractions of the Callejón. If you go by yourself, combis leave at 7am from the central market to Pueblo Parón. Normally 9 km and 4 hours of walking. On the way back there are very few cars and it is 19 km from Pueblo Parón to Caraz. It is possible to pitch a tent.

The picked facade and the slender steeple that overcome it make this little church a unique curiosity.

After a hundred kilometers from Huaraz, by a road in bad condition, one reaches, at 3,200 m, an archaeological complex that was, during the first millennium of our era, the most important ceremonial center of the Cordillera. It is possible to walk from a square to an esplanade and from a pyramid with underground galleries, originally decorated with bas-reliefs, to rooms where monoliths with strange figures were erected. The main building, the Castillo or Great Pyramid, 75 m long and 13 m high, is composed of three superimposed granite terraces. Underneath, galleries, corridors and underground chambers are connected by stairs and ramps. On the outside, a portico is formed by two cylindrical columns carved with bird figures. The cornice, also elaborately carved, bears eight stylised condors or falcons.

In front of it, the plaza where the Obelisco Tello stood has been cleared. The Templo del Lanzón, inside the Great Pyramid, is the oldest building in the complex, dating back to 1200 B.C. A 5-metre-high stone of strange raw beauty depicts a figure with a feline head and hair made of snakes.

A visit to the Museo Nacional de Chavín is also worthwhile, where you can find ceramics and tools, but above all the Obelisco Tello and an interesting collection of pututos, large shells used by blowing strongly into them to call out to others.

This lake shaded by high palm trees, 1 hour by boat on the Maldonado river, is a sanctuary for animals such as crocodiles, otters, cranes and turtles. Fishing enthusiasts can indulge their passion. You can get there by a 3 km long path, then explore the site by pirogue (local rowers). It's the best place for birds, small monkeys, caimans and a family of otters if they deign to cross to the part of the lake open to the public (the other is reserved). Sleeping on the shore of the Sandoval allows you to explore it before or after the others.