The most beautiful churches cathedrals basilicas and chapels Peru

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.

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.

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.

The church is reached by climbing the hill through the narrow streets of San Blas. The Catholic temple is located on the remains of the Colcampanta palace, built during the reign of Pachacútec, of which a double wall with niches and a door can still be seen. Made of adobe, except for the 18th century stone bell tower, San Cristóbal lights up at night, watching over the Plaza de Armas. The square is a lookout point from which much of the city can be seen. The bell tower offers an even more impressive view, but only for those who have paid the boleto religioso.