Monuments to visit Peru

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!

Wayna (or Huayna) Picchu is the famous peak that appears on all the postcards behind the ruins as if to enclose the landscape. This point of observation (2 693 m) in steepness costs some cold sweat and a good cardio, but offers an exceptional view on the main monuments and alleys. Count on 1h30 to 2h round trip along the numerous steps dug in the mountain, people who are afraid of heights should not go. It remains our favorite. Follow the light blue circuit 4. If you want to visit all the ruins, it will be necessary to envisage an entry Llaqta in more.

Built in 1535 on the site of a pre-Columbian temple, it is the oldest house in Lima. Located on the left side of the presidential palace, in the alley leading to the Río Rímac, this casona is still inhabited by the descendants of the founder, companion in arms of Pizarro. It is certainly one of the most beautiful colonial houses in Latin America, very well preserved and richly furnished. This beautiful jewel also hosts special events and sometimes meals (minimum 20 people, depending on availability, it is often the agencies that can offer it).

You will see from far this mirador with its huge statue of condor with spread wings. Be ready, because there are 690 steps waiting for you, and with the altitude, it is not necessarily easy! The sportsmen will climb them with enthusiasm to then enjoy a view on the city as well as on the Titicaca. The place is small and we do not linger too long, especially since the statue has nothing extraordinary. It takes about 45 minutes round trip if you walk at a slow pace. A nice way to get in shape!

The 18th century complex is made up of the Church of Belén and the old men's and women's hospitals. The church is singular, its façade is worked in the form of an altarpiece composed of three sections. Its ceilings, painted with polychrome figures, show particularly curious cherubs. In the highest part, on an undulating cornice, are three sculptures representing the three theological virtues: faith, in the centre, blindfolded and holding a chalice; hope, on the left, symbolised by the anchor; and finally charity, on the right, with a child in her arms.

The men's hospital, built in the 18th century, with thick stone walls and a vaulted ceiling, is surrounded by small niches in which the patients waited to receive extreme unction. A reconstruction of the position of the patients shows them facing the altar to follow the celebration of the mass. Today, the hospital houses a museum of medicine. In the rooms to the right of the entrance is an art gallery dedicated to the painter Andrés Zevallos.

Finally, we enter the women's hospital, on the other side of the street, through a heavy door of carved stone in the mestizo style, whose lintel supported by two four-breasted caryatids is a sign of fecundity. Inside, the Museo Etnologico displays objects representative of pre-Incan cultures, such as these three children's mummies. The walls still show traces of the polychrome paint that once covered them.

One of the most typical markets in Peru. You will find as usual fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, clothes, handicrafts, but also and especially, a corner reserved for the brujos (witch doctors). In these stalls you can find medicinal or hallucinogenic plants, whale bones, snake skins, powders and ritual objects... A very popular place for shamans. It is worth the detour for the open minded or to learn more about the pre-Hispanic traditions still used today.

The most remarkable casona , by its proportions and its richness, is that of the Palacio Iturregui. Its 3 patios and its multitude of rooms are the seat of the Club Central. The Palacio was built in the 19th century by Manuel de Iturregui y Aguilarte, a nobleman of Basque origin who took part in the liberation struggles. It is the headquarters of the Club Central, the most exclusive social club in the city. Depending on the directories, the place is more or less accessible for a look at the columns and golden mouldings. From the outside, one can already appreciate the wrought iron gates.

Puno is the most important center of poncho weaving and other clothing made of llama and alpaca wool. This handicraft market is full of good quality clothes. There are also masks worn during the diablada, musical instruments, and the famous torito of Pucará. You will also find many trinkets. Enough to please yourself or your friends when you return! Don't hesitate to bargain, as the same items are sold at better prices at the Laykakota market, a little further out.

The cell where Atahualpa was detained, this room that he had to fill once with gold and twice with silver to regain his freedom, is the only Inca vestige in Cajamarca. Note the polish and the adjustment of the stones as well as the line drawn on the wall, at the height of the raised arm of the Inca. The ransom took nine months to be collected and was not enough to save the Inca. The place is moving, but very small. The visit is anecdotal, but full of history, go there especially since it is included with the very interesting and complete Conjunto Monumental de Belén.

A floating and popular district that can be reached by canoe during the rainy season from El Huequito up the Itaya River, or on foot from the center along the Malecon Tarapaca. Don't hesitate to go into the alleys, especially the Paquito passage, where you will find all sorts of medicinal plants (including the liana used to prepare ayahuasca). During the rainy season, the dry land disappears. The streets become canals and vehicles are replaced by boats that the kids row with a steady hand. This is undoubtedly the most photogenic time of the year for tourists. Belén is an active commercial center, acting at the same time as a port, a market, a living area (there is even a floating discotheque!) and a meeting point between fishermen, farmers and traders unloading their products of the forest from their dugout canoes. With its houses on stilts, Belén is the exact portrait of an Amazonian port as our western imaginations conceive it: agitated, noisy, interloped, a little ghostly, a little unreal, but always fascinating... In dry season, the place will make you feel very different: colorful and lively, but also very dirty.

To visit the lower part of the mercado, for the safety of your belongings, choose a local guide who will know how to lead you as it should be. Above all, be discreet with your camera. As for all the markets, the visit is more interesting in the morning.

The Templo de las Tres Ventanas, which adorns the main square, looks like a puzzle of incredible precision as the polygonal blocks fit perfectly together. These are the best-cut and largest stones on the site, the main wall being 8 metres wide and 10 metres high. The windows have a trapezoidal shape and niches were to allow to leave offerings. This place was obviously used for important ceremonies.

The Templo Principal, as its name suggests, would have been one of the most important ceremonial sites in the Inca city. With its back to the temple is the Casa del Sacerdote, a place where the priests kept the sacred ornaments used during the ceremonies. On the front of the temple there is a small carved stone that represents the Southern Cross. It is believed that Wiracocha, the creator of the universe and a key figure in the Inca pantheon, was honored here. It seems that this masterpiece was never fully completed.

In its heyday, Caral, the main city and major ceremonial center of the civilization of the same name, must have numbered between 1,000 and 3,000 individuals divided into hierarchical classes and tasks. This civilization expanded and prospered for about 1,000 years. Unlike the neighboring cities of Aspero and Vichama, Caral is located in the foothills of the desert, 23 km from the coast. It has been declared Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Several archaeologists explored the zone as Max Uhle, Julio C. Tello, Carlos Williams or the Swiss Frederic Engel, but it is when 1996 that the works of update of the city and its satellites were completed and were diffused, of the hand of the archaeologist Ruth Shady always to the head of the project.

In the central zone, there are 32 structures or residences distributed in two main areas: Caral Alto in the north and Caral Bajo in the south. The integral circuit of 2h30 or the ligero circuit of 1h30 can be realized, the accompaniment of a guide is obligatory. In several strategic points, there are watchtowers or platforms to better observe the sites.

Caral Alto

Caral Alto, in the north, gathers the most extensive constructions and residences. There are 7 pyramids, two circular plazas, a Central Plaza, a space for collective congregation, and the smaller Plaza de la Huanca.

Pirámide Mayor (Sector E). Measures 150 meters long, 110 meters wide and 28 meters high. It stands in front of the central square where it is believed the market was located. It was the most important one of the site, the one you can see in the pictures. It was surrounded by a circular plaza and stepped platforms.

Edificio Piramidal La Cantera (Sector B), built on a rocky promontory that served as a quarry. On its top there is a circular altar, a furnace and two underground conduits.

Edificio Piramidal Central (Sector C), the^second in size with a height of 18 meters. It is located to the west of the central plaza. Next to it a small square was found that was used for rituals.

Edificio Piramidal La Galería (Sector H), at the eastern end of the city, it is the^third in height. It is connected to the site by an underground gallery.

Edificio de la Banqueta (Sector N), smaller and anecdotal.

Edificio Piramidal La Huanca (Sector I), it is here that we find a monolith planted in the ground of a height of 2,15 meters.

Caral Bajo

Caral Bajo, in the south, has smaller buildings such as the archaeological complex of the Anfiteatro or the Altar Circular.

Templo del Anfiteatro (Sector L), a fortified complex made up of a circular square in the shape of an amphitheater. It is the largest of the complex with a diameter of 29 meters. It is the most important of this part and the most famous after the Pirámide Mayor.

Edificio del Altar Circular(Sector P), where we find again a circular altar, a furnace and its conduits.

At the entrance a small museum and panels explain the development of the civilization, its prosperity, regional exchanges, the development of fishing and cotton cultivation for example. One also learns more about cosmovision, this mysterious link between men and the elements which regulated their life.

On the spot we also find toilets, a small restaurant and a store. A visit rich in teachings without any doubt. At the end of October, Caral Raymi festival.

The Montaña Machu Picchu requires a special entrance ticket. The ascent is less strong than in Wayna Picchu) and more lenient for the subjects to the vertigo, on the other hand it is more demanding, because the Montaña culminates in 3 082 meters, it is necessary to go through 650 meters of unevenness mainly in the form of steps. It takes about 2.5 to 3 hours to get there and back. The view is wider: it embraces the site, the surrounding mountains and the rivers. Follow the yellow circuit 3. If you want to visit all the ruins you will have to foresee an additional entrance to Llaqta.

It is not just one but a group of constructions slipped in the middle of the rocks. Among them are some caves that will serve to exercise rituals. There is also the name that gives its name to this package: a stone cut in the center of a large patio where many guessing the traits of a condor. In the south of this stone there are houses reserved for elites with private access to one of the sources of Machu Picchu. Buildings were also found as small pens dedicated to the breeding of cuyes (guinea pigs).

It is a larger complex of the city with only one access door, it would be the Acllahuasi (house of elected women). These women devoted themselves to religious services and fine crafts. In a large room made of polished stones, two circular mortars(morteros) on the floor would have been used to grind grains. It is also thought that these carved bowls were filled with water so that the stars would be reflected in them. The place was used for rituals. The elite resided there.

The Torreon or Templo del Sol (which Bingham also called the "Royal Tomb") is located in the nobles' quarter. This conical tower made of finely worked blocks is accessed through a door with two posts. It seems that the place was used for the ceremonies that celebrated the June solstice. The small windows in the tower were used to measure the arrival of the solstices and therefore the changes of the seasons. A fire has left traces that are still visible. Under the large rock that supports the Torreon there is a small cavity that is thought to have been a mausoleum for mummies, like a secret cave. An altar carved in the shape of a chakana (Andean cross) and trapezoidal niches for offerings have been found there. In the tower there are several sacrificial altars. Nearby were 142 skeletons, presumably mostly female. The most common hypothesis is that they wereacclas, young girls sacrificed to celebrate the cult of the Sun. But a more recent study, conducted by the American John Verano by re-examining the human remains of the Peabody Museum of Yale, showed that it was a question of skeletons of both sexes and of any age. It was even whispered that here was the mummy of the famous Inca Pachacutec, but nothing has ever been proven. This symbolic place attracts the eye and suggests that the discreet entrance below could hold important treasures. Still a mystery in suspense.

This is the largest, best distributed and most finely executed of all the residential buildings. Its entrance door leads directly to the most important spring in the city and, on the other side, at the end of a large staircase, to the Templo del Sol. There are two rooms with monolithic lintels and polished stone walls. One of these rooms is a small outbuilding that had a direct exit to the water drainage channel. There is also an enclosure for camelids and a terrace.

It is a promontory that slightly dominates the other buildings. Terraces have been built on all four sides, forming a kind of pyramid with a polygonal base. There are two wide staircases to the north and south. The southern staircase is the most interesting, as most of the 78 steps are cut from a single stone. At the very top is the Intihuatana (Quechua for "the sun is attached") rock. The rock itself has a few steps so that the priest can access it and place his offerings.

This polygon-shaped stone is about 1 meter high and 2 meters in diameter, carved in one piece. Its different faces cast shadows in relation to the movement of the sun at different times of the year. This made it possible to predict climatic changes and therefore the important moments for agriculture throughout the year. The movement of the stars was also monitored. The shadow cast by the small central pillar was used to measure the passage of time. This is why it is also called "Inca sundial".

It is said that the Intihuatana stone radiates its own energy. In the past, one could put one's hands down to feel this power. Today, one must keep a distance of a few centimeters. Some theories speak of a vortex of energy on which would be built the city of Machu Picchu with in its center the Intihuatana. This undoubtedly adds to the mystique of the place.

It is also called the "House of Pizarro". This is the seat of the Peruvian government, the residence of the President of the Republic of Peru and the seat of the executive power. It is located in the Plaza Mayor (or Plaza de Armas). It was here that Pizarro founded Lima on January 18, 1535, and the fig tree that once stood in his garden still remains. The viceroys followed one another and transformed a rather humble residence into a small palace inspired by the Palace of Versailles. José de San Martin, the liberator, stayed there for a short time but preferred Pueblo Libre. The palace had its moment of glory under the government of Marshal Ramon Castilla before being occupied during the war with Chile. The palace as we see it today dates back to 1937 and was embellished in 2005 like many historical monuments in the center. Inside, the Dorado Room is the most sumptuous, gilded with gold leaf and furnished in the French style. This is where the Order of the Great Sun (Orden de Gran Sol) decorations are awarded, for example. You can't get in, but stand in front of the gates at 12 noon. This is the time of the changing of the guard - where the dragoon guards, escorting the President of the Republic, salute the flag. Here again, their dress is inspired by the French Republican Guard. On Sundays, the horse guards also participate in the ceremony. On certain more symbolic dates, this parade is an obviously superbly regulated military show.