The most beautiful religious buildings 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.

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.

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.

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

Entirely built (and rebuilt after earthquakes, the last of which, in June 2001, brought down one of its two bell towers) in sillar, a white volcanic stone, it displays its seventy columns, its three doors and its two lateral arches on a whole section of the plaza de Armas: the "facade" that one discovers is in fact only one of its sides. Inside, there are some interesting paintings and sculptures, a monumental altar made of Carrara marble, large organs made in Belgium and a pulpit carved in Lille by a certain Rigot.

It is the first stage south of Cusco of the Ruta del Barroco Andino which opened the doors of the churches of Huaro and its demonic frescoes (including The Last Judgment) and Canicunca. It is obviously the masterpiece. We strongly recommend a visit, because under this modest white temple hides a small marvel of colors, gildings and drawings intended to evangelize the local people. It is much more touching than the cold and pompous Cathedral of Cusco.

This church is the most beautiful of Lima and its square, invaded by pigeons, gives it a false air of Venice. Its carved stone façade is worth the trip. On the right as you enter, a fantastic altarpiece overshadows the central altar with its gold. The chairs in the choir are carved from Nicaraguan cedar; the columns and vault are decorated with plaster reliefs. The library houses some 25,000 volumes. The catacombs, discovered in 1951, house the bones of nearly 70,000 deceased.

With its adjoining chapel, it dominates the Plaza de Armas with its two bell towers. Built in 1625, it appears as it was rebuilt after the 1940 earthquake (this was, and still is, very controversial): a mixture - a little heavy - of Baroque, Romanesque and Gothic elements. Its three main naves are planted with elegant columns and gothic ribs elegantly dress its domes. Along the two side naves, a Stations of the Cross is depicted on huge paintings and the 12 apostles on the 12 columns. There are no less than 13 chapels, each with altars chiselled in gold, some of which allow us to get to know illustrious local "figures" whom we will meet again on our way, such as the Virgen de la Candelaria, Santa Rosa de Lima or San Martin de Porres. The highlights are the choir seats and benches, by the Catalan artist Pedro Noguera, finely carved in wood and of impeccable precision. The sacristy houses a religious museum. The other controversial subject is the alleged presence or absence of the remains of Francisco Pizarro, who is said to rest in the chapel to the right of the nave. This is still the most richly decorated crypt.

For those who do not wish to pay the entrance fee, the cathedral is open for services on Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 11am; in this case, discretion is advised. Nevertheless, we recommend at least a visit to the impressive cathedral and, if you have time, the associated museum.

This small church, the oldest in Cusco, dates from 1536. It houses a priceless cedar pulpit, carved in a single piece, which took its creator, Diego Tomás de Cerda, twenty-five years of work. The work, purely baroque, is a firework display of swollen cherubs, chubby cherubs, grimacing monsters and climbing flora. The main altar, by Mateo Tuyro Túpac, and the beautifully carved balcony are also worth seeing. This small church on the Plaza San Blas is often neglected, wrongly so.

Built in 1534, that is to say before the foundation of the city. There are many baroque altarpieces, of course, gilded with gold leaf, and an altar from which emerges the tabernacle in embossed silver. Its façade is also very elaborate in the Churrigueresque Limenian baroque style and its door made of pinkish-grey granite imported from Panama at the time is quite unique. Without a doubt, it stands out in the most commercial pedestrian street of the historic centre.

Begun in 1564, the cathedral was completed a century later. The pink volcanic stones of its façade were taken from the citadel of Saqsayhuamán. The sober Renaissance façade contrasts with the busy plateresque style of the interior. In the shape of a Latin cross, the building has a chapter house, three naves, a sacristy and no less than ten side chapels, all of which are adorned with carved cedar objects (gilded with gold leaf or embossed silver) and nearly 400 painted canvases. In the side chapels there is a stone altar and the nave where Inca Garcilaso de la Vega is buried. The name of one of the chapels (triumph) comes from the Virgen del Triunfo who would have saved the lives of 200 Spaniards during the siege of Cusco by Manco II.

The cathedral has a 17th century choir, whose cedar seats are true works of art. Here the styles clash but dazzle: rococo central altar of the Santísima Trinidad, Churrigueresque altarpieces, baroque pulpits... In the chapels, the profusion of paintings of the school of Cusco (Sinchi Roca, Marcos Zapata and Diego Quispe Tito) transforms the cathedral into a museum (note the painting entitled the Ultima Cena, where appears a cuy, symbol of syncretism). El Señor de los Temblores shows a Christ whose face is blackened by the smoke from the candles that burn constantly nearby. The centrepiece of the church is a 22-carat gold monstrance, 1.2 m high, weighed down with more than 2,000 precious stones and weighing 27 kg.

This museum is nestled in the Carmelite Monastery (still in operation, even if you don't see the sisters). Very beautiful sunny interior patio. Numerous works of art from the colonial period: sculptures, gold and silverware, murals, furniture, decorative objects. We also discover the church, which is still a place of worship (sometimes you can hear the angelus). An interesting place to know better a period often forgotten by Peruvian museums.

Also known as the Basílica Catedral San Miguel Arcángel de Piura, this cathedral located in the city's Plaza de Armas was built in 1588. It jealously guards the treasures of its nave: gilded altar, altarpiece of the Virgen de Fatima (carved in magnificent Nicaraguan cedar) which has adorned it for 350 years, a portrait of the libertador San Martín painted by Ignacio Merino and a Purísima Concepción of the Quito school. Partially destroyed after the earthquake of 1912, it was the Spanish sculptor Julian Aliaga who remade its altar.

This is a church founded by the Franciscans in 1645, two facades and one steeple, in the purest colonial style: carved wooden chorus and chairs and chair impregnated with ivory. In the gallery, paintings of the most famous names of Cusco school (Quispe Tito, Santa Cruz, Sinchi Roca, Zapata) and the immense painting 12 m on 9 m, painted by Juan Espinoza de los Monteros and tracing the genealogy of the Franciscan'family ', are noted.

It is the most imposing cloister-church complex in the region. Among its many treasures are the church furnishings, more than 150 paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries, including those of the Quito school, and magnificent altarpieces, one of which was sculpted by the artist Fernando Collado and is considered to be his major work. The church furniture and altarpieces date from 1759. Unfortunately, the complex has been closed to visitors for some years. Beautiful illumination at nightfall. Normally open on Sunday mornings.

This beautiful church with its yellow and white walls is one of the city's most important historical monuments. It is built like a basilica with a central nave and several side chapels. Above the pulpit, there is a winged statue of St. Vincent made of golden bread. The large central altarpiece is in the rich Baroque style. During the period of independence, the convent of Santo Domingo was used as a prison. This beautiful church is now a Cultural Monumental Heritage of the Nation.

Built between 1680 and 1708, the church of Belén houses a rare piece: a stone sculpture of the Holy Family.

This complex includes the Franciscan church, the convent and the small temple of the Tercera Orden. The Franciscan church has been shaken more than once by the hiccups of the earth. Inspired by the late Romanesque style, with reminiscences of Mudejar (Andalusian Arabic style), it has a white stone and red brick façade. As for the Tercera Orden church, one enters this large chapel through a stone door, worked in the purest Arequipa tradition.

Built in the 18th century, in a superb mixed baroque style that flourished in the Andean South. The pink stone façade is a festival of Christian (Spanish) and indigenous (Peruvian) motifs: the Sun has an appointment with the Moon and mermaids play the charango. Astonishing. The interior, where the gold leaf gilding shines, does not reach the level of madness of the façade. Its silver-covered altar is surprising, however. One can find here candles for the nights on the Lake Islands without electricity.

Dating from 1576, this church was built by the Jesuits, to overshadow the cathedral, on the site of the Amarukancha, the palace of Wayna Cápac. It is considered the finest achievement of colonial religious architecture in the Americas. Its baroque facade of carved stone is magnificent. With a single nave, topped by two bell towers, it houses a dome and a gilded altar, an underground chapel, crypts, secret passages and hidden stairways. From its bell tower, there is a superb view of the Plaza de Armas. We recommend.