25-03-25 Tuesday
We are off on a private tour today to visit Limas historic centre, the catacombs and Miraflores. Our guide arrives but our driver is stuck in traffic and will be 30 minutes late. Once all aboard we manoeuvre through horrible traffic to the historic centre where we do a walking tour around some of the beautiful old buildings. The main square is cordoned off due to protests but doesn’t stop us getting some good views.
We enter the Basilica of San Francisco, (P:- Another Cathedral! As impressive as they are we don’t need to see any more this week!) which was built in the 1500’s. The interior is very ornate with hand painted tiles lining the walls, many would make lovely quilt patterns. The vestibule has a huge wooden dome ceiling, built in 1546 and rebuilt after an earthquake in 1655 with wood brought from Costa Rica. Many other rooms have intricately carved ceilings and frescos. The library was beautiful. It holds approximately 25,000 volumes, some dating from the 16th century. Also almost 6000 parchments. Several massive books on display had wooden covers, covered with leather and the pages were made of llama skin, all beautifully decorated. Around each corner there was something different to marvel at. Huge paintings, murals, mosaic tile work, carved wood drawers and choir seats, and tiled floors.
Then we head down to the catacombs, which were the old cemeteries in colonial times. It operated until 1810 and is estimated to hold 70,000 people. The catacombs were discovered in 1951.(P:- interesting fact the only human bones that remain in tact in the catacombs are Skull and Femur all other bones disintegrated with time- might be worth remembering if you plan on storing your bones in the future !!!)
Once we leave the Basilica we wander our way back to the main square stopping at a chocolate shop on the way for some tasting and purchasing and an icecream. As we reach the main square we are just in time for the changing of the guard, so stand and watch for a while before finding our driver and heading towards Miraflores.
The Huaca Pucllana, Peruvian Pyramid is located in the bustling district of Miraflores. This site is believed to be from around 200 ad. The process was laborious and time consuming. It is constructed with millions of adobe (mud) bricks and assumed to be a temple. Today it is about a third of its original size.
Tassie Travellers 