Museums

Gold of Peru Museum Gallery

The Sala Museo Oro del Perú, situated within the Larcomar mall of Lima's Miraflores district, has a collection of pre-Columbian gold and other metal objects created by the pre-Inca people who once thrived along Peru's northern coast. Following the recorded audio guide through the museum's eight exhibition galleries gives visitors an appreciation not only of the beauty and intricacy of Sicán, Chimú and Lambayeque art but also of its symbolic and sacred value.

The tour begins with a map of the Americas published in 1592 and a timeline of Peru's ancient cultures placed in the context of major world events. The visitor is then shown the metallurgical techniques used in ancient Peru, exemplified by a magnificent gold Sicán funerary mask, and is led to admire a sumptuous silver Chimú drinking vessel which holds the keys to understanding the worldview of these pre-Hispanic cultures. Physical adornments such as tupus (shawl pins), orejeras (ear ornaments), breastplates and headgear are displayed and symbolic objects are explained in the context of the tripartite Andean worldview. Lastly, the theme of death is explored and a spectacular collection of gold objects, including an elaborate tumi, illustrate the grandeur and technical mastery of these mysterious cultures.

Lima Museum of Art

One of Peru's foremost museums, the Museo de Arte de Lima or MALI for short, houses one of the country's largest and most comprehensive collections of Peruvian art across the ages. Spanning pre-Columbian times to the present day, it boasts more than 7,000 exhibits spread across over 48,000 square feet, including galleries devoted to pre-Columbian art and textiles, colonial art, colonial and republican silverwork, 19th century republican art, costumbrismo art, 20th century art, photography and contemporary art. In all, the collection encompasses over 3,000 years of Peruvian art history and some of its more noteworthy pieces include 2,000-year-old Paracas weavings, pre-Hispanic ceramics, 17th- and 18th-century Cuzco paintings, elaborately carved furniture and silver stirrups.

The museum is also home to a cinema house that shows art and classic films as well as a library specializing in plastic arts, architecture, popular art, photography, museology, conservation and management of visual collections. It is located in the elegant neo-Renaissance Palacio de la Exposición, which was built in 1871 and declared a historic monument in its own right. The palace rises up in the midst of a busy downtown area and adjoins the lovely gardens, statues and mini zoo of one of central Lima's largest park areas.

Museo de la Nación

If you want an in-depth and comprehensive look at Peru's pre-Hispanic cultures across the ages, Lima's Museo de la Nación (Museum of the Nation) is a must-see. Peru's largest museum and one if its most important, it's a great place to get your bearings before venturing out to explore the archaeological sites themselves. And considering Peru's exceedingly long and complex pre-Columbian history, a bit of orientation comes in very handy.

Beyond its austere concrete façade (courtesy of the military government of the 70s) you'll find ancient ceramics, textiles, metallurgic objects, utensils, mummies, traditional costumes, scale models of the country's principal archaeological sites and replicas of pre-colonial life. Don't miss the remarkable collection of Moche, Nazca and Wari ceramics, the famous Revolt of the Objects Mural or the reproduction of the Lord of Sipán burial chamber. You'll also want to check out the reproductions of friezes found at Huaca La Luna and Huaca El Brujo, artifacts from Batán Grande and models of Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines. The artifacts are organized chronologically across the museum's four floors in such a way that each successive civilization's highlights and achievements are apparent, and it's helpful that the displays are labeled in both Spanish and English. Aside from its permanent displays the museum also hosts temporary exhibitions of work by Peruvian and international artists as well as concerts of the National Symphony Orchestra.

Museum of the Inquisition and Congress

The Museo de la Inquisición y del Congreso is a splendid colonial mansion with a macabre and fascinating history grounded in the gruesome legacy of the Spanish Inquisition as well as the historic founding of Peru's Congress.

It all began on January 29, 1570 when King Philip II of Spain decreed the establishment of a Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Lima, which in 1584 installed itself in the former dwelling of one of the original founders of the capital city, Nicolás de Rivera el Mozo (Nicolás de Rivera II). Until its abolishment in 1820, the Inquisition was headquartered in this grand old building which was accommodated to the inquisitors' needs with the construction of 12 jail cells, the Chamber of the Secret, Hall of the Secret, Hall of Respect, Hall of Hearings, a sumptuous chapel and other areas. On July 28, 1821 Peru declared its independence from Spain and convened a Congreso Constituyente (Constituent Assembly), which chose the mansion as a meeting place and, in the case of some members, a lodging house. Subsequently, it became the seat of the Senado Nacional (National Senate) before being occupied by a public library.

In 1968 the building was transformed into a museum to ensure its preservation as an invaluable piece of cultural patrimony, and today it receives the most visits of any museum in the whole country. People come here to learn about the Spanish Inquisition and its fight to stamp out heresy, Judaism, blasphemy, deviant sexual behavior and devil worship. You can still view the basement cells where prisoners were tortured (accompanied by grisly waxwork exhibits), the halls where 371 people were sentenced and 40 were condemned to be burnt at the stake, and the exceptionally ornate carved wooden ceilings beneath which the inquisitors pondered the fate of the persecuted. The museum is also devoted to the history of Peru's Congress and preserves an interesting collection of historic congressional documents and patriotic symbols. It's located in Downtown Lima on the Plaza Bolívar across from the House of Congress one-fifth of a mile from the Plaza de Armas.

Museum of the La Merced Church

The La Merced Church may not be the most famous of Cuzco's illustrious churches but it houses some of the city's most cherished colonial treasures. Its most prized gem is the Custodia, a 3-foot 4-inch solid gold monstrance adorned with thousands of precious stones including diamonds, pearls, rubies, emeralds and the huge irregularly formed Sirena (Mermaid) pearl. Another of its rare pieces, certainly its most provocative, is a painting by Ignacio Chacón depicting St. Peter of Nolasco and the baby Jesus being suckled simultaneously by the Virgin Mary.

The Chacón painting is just one of the museum's many 17th- and 18th-century paintings of the Cuzco School, which portray saints linked to the Roman Catholic Orden de la Merced (Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy) and the redemption of Christians held captive by the Moors. Among these is a series of paintings by Chacón which captures the life of the order's founder, St. Peter of Nolasco, and works by Basilio Santa Cruz and Bernardo Bitti.

The famous cell of Francisco Salamanca is another of the museum's outstanding attractions. The great speaker, poet, musician, painter and composer of carols in Quechua and Aymara lived out the last 30 years of his life here and painted frescos and built a barrel organ that can still be appreciated by visitors today. Other important objects in the museum's collection include parchment manuscripts, an ivory sculpture of Christ, silver objects, liturgical clothing embroidered with silver and gold and porcelain jars.

Rafael Larco Herrera Archaeological Museum

An 18th-century viceregal mansion built on the ruins of a 7th-century pre-Columbian pyramid in the midst of meticulously tended gardens houses a vast private collection of pre-Columbian art whose claim to fame is its erotic ceramics exhibit. Known in Spanish as the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera and situated in Lima's Pueblo Libre district, its chronological galleries guide the visitor through 3,000 years of Peruvian pre-Hispanic history including Moche, Nazca, Chimú and Inca artifacts.

The Larco Museum has a dazzling collection of gold and silver ornaments incrusted with semi-precious stones and educational exhibits examining pre-Columbian cultures and ceramic production. It also has a Lithic room displaying objects dating back to 8,000 BC and a gallery exploring the history of Peruvian textile production. It is one of the world's only museums where visitors can take a peek into its classified storage area containing 45,000 artifacts organized by culture and theme as well as view them online via an electronic catalogue.

However, the museum's piece de resistance and most popular attraction is its Erotic gallery, displaying the largest collection of erotic ceramics in the world. Ancient Peruvians depicted their everyday lives in ceramics, including sex, and this gallery is an entertainingly explicit exposition of the Moche culture's realistic, humorous, religious and moralistic attitudes towards both common and deviant sexual practices.

Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum

In 1987 the Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva made a landmark discovery in the Lambayeque Valley along Peru's northern coast. The tomb of a prominent Moche sovereign who died around 275 A.D. was recovered intact from deep within the Huaca Rajada pyramid, making it one of the only ancient unlooted royal tombs ever to have been unearthed by archaeologists in Peru. The man, designated El Señor de Sipán (the Lord of Sipán), was honored with a lavish burial amidst fine gold and silver objects and in life evidently held supreme political, military and religious power over his people. The tombs of the Old Lord of Sipán and a priest were also uncovered nearby.

The Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán (Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum) was built for the express purpose of displaying, preserving and restoring the contents of these excavated tombs. Located 10 minutes from Chiclayo in the city of Lambayeque, the museum allows visitors to experience the archaeologists' discovery and investigative process as it leads them through ten thematic areas. Upon entering the Moche-inspired pyramidal building the visitor is given an introduction to the Moche civilization, their society and worldview. The following exhibits present the archaeological excavation methodology, an exact replica of the Tomb of the Lord of Sipán as it was found at the Huaca Rajada and royal jewelry including gold and turquoise orejeras (ear ornaments) and a scepter of gold and silver. Visitors then come to a replica of the Lord of Sipán's funerary chamber, the Tomb of the Old Lord of Sipán and spectacular ornaments such as the golden spider necklace and the image of a feline deity with a human body. The final exhibition room provides a life-like recreation of the Lord of Sipán and his court as a means of conveying the grandeur of this supreme ruler.