MUSEUMS IN LIMA

MUSEUM OF THE CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC.

In this Museum the visitor will get a close look to the history of the Congress of the Republic that represents the evolution through time of the Legislative Power starting from its beginnings, on September 20th of 1822, to the present days.

The Museum also keeps an interesting collection of documents concerning the Congress of the Republic of Peru.

The tourists visiting the Museum are attended by expert guides that will diligently explain the history and functioning of the Tribunal of the Inquisition as of the Congress of the Republic. These guided visits are done in Spanish, English, French, German, Italian and Portuguese. There can be acquired the several publications edited by the Congress of the Republic, as well as T-shirts, magnetic directories, pocket belts, etc. It also contains a coffee shop that will make the visit more pleasant.

MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY OF THE MAJOR NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SAN MARCOS

The Casona (an old and typical mansion) of San Marcos University takes in the Cultural Centre of the University, the latter, in its turn, shelters the Museum of Art and History.

It was founded in the year of 1919 by the renowned historian Dr. Julio C. Tello, Father of the Peruvian Archaeology. His major discovery was of the Chavín de Huantar Culture, whose collection stands as the main exhibit in the Museum.

This entity also brings a collection of pictorial reproductions of the great masters of painting from the 16th through 20th centuries of Peru and a collection of popular arts.

The latter comprises more than a thousand objects proceeding from the Regions of Ayacucho, Junín, Cusco and Puno. They are works done by some renowned artisans, like the altarpiece master Joaquín Lopez Antay, the imager Hilario Mendívil and the ceramist Leoncio Tineo.

It also contains an important collection with 143 portraits of illustrious characters of the University from the 16th Century to the 20th Century. One part of it is exhibited in the Sala de Exposición Permanente Permanent Exhibit Hall, along with 16 canvas paintings that were restored by means of a covenant between Peru and Spain.

Among the main characters of San Marcos are many rectors and scholars that were at the same time members of the Santo Oficio, along with renowned jurists, statesmen and intellectuals of the Colonial times.

It also contains a hall for temporary expositions devoted to paint and sculpture.

THE TRIBUNAL OF THE HOLY INQUISITION

There is little or no doubt that the Holy Office or Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition has been one of the most debated and worst comprehended through all times. It was instituted by King Philip the Second on February 7th in 1569 and one year later started its activities in Peru as a provincial subsidiary to the Consejo de la Suprema y General Inquisición Espanola.

The first inquisitors were the lawyer Serván de Cerezuela and the doctor Andrés de Bustamante. Nevertheless, it was the former who in fact took the task in the District of Lima because the latter died during his trip from Spain to Lima. With them were named a prosecutor, a secretary and a notary. With the passing of times, the number of inquisitors and lesser personnel rapidly grew.

Its first seat was the Church of San Agustín, but soon it became apparent that the place was insufficient in size. It was then that the attorney Cerezuela asked to acquire the by then residence of the oidor Paredes, in front of the Church of La Merced, which was done. Some years later this precinct ceased to be suitable, due to the "curiosity of the people of Lima" that attracted too many unwanted visitors that, straining their senses, tried to get acquainted with what was happening in its interiors.

So in 1584 it moved to the small square del Estanque, known today as Plaza Bolívar Square. The construction consisted of the Courtrooms, twelve excommunicated jails, a Camara del Secreto or Chamber of the Secret with its -still preserved- brick vaults, the Sala del Secreto or Hall of the Secret, Sala de Respeto or Hall of Respect, Sala de Audiencias or Hall of Hearings, plus offices, a house for the inquisitor, rooms for the warden and for the doorman and a sumptuous Chapel with a door to the Square itself.

The Tribunal was endowed to fight against the heresies and to prosecute Protestantism, Judaism, as well as blasphemies and all kind of sexual deviations. Its sole objective was the white population, weather Spaniard or foreign, the indigenous people were excluded from its jurisdiction by express orders of the King.

The scholars presume that along its history, the Tribunal must have processed at least three thousand citizens from Peru, Bolivia and other countries that conformed the Vice Royalty of Peru.

PARK OF THE EXPOSITION AND ART MUSEUM OF LIMA.

Located at a few blocks distance from the Historical Centre, towards the Southern districts, encircled by the Avenidas Paseo Colón, Garcilazo de la Vega, 28 de Julio and the Expressway Avenues, stands the Parque de la Exposición, a splendid urban set that comprises the Gran Parque de Lima Great Park and the Palacio de la Exposición Exhibition Palace, the latter containing the Art Museum of Lima.

The Park takes in monuments that date back to the days of the celebration of the Centennial of the Independence of Peru, like the Pabellón Morisco or Moorish Pavilion, the Sismógrafo, the Fuente China or Chinese Fountain, the Jardín Botánico or Botanical Garden and the Jardín Japonés or Japanese Garden. It also contains other facilities overly devoted to scenic arts, like the Isla de Títeres or Island of the Puppets, the Open Theatre and the La Cabaña Theatre.

The Palace, on the other hand, is one of the handsomest examples of the eclectic architecture of Lima. It was built during the years of 1870 and 1871 with the supposedly exclusive use of a premise in which to arrange artistic expositions. Its inauguration occurred in the next year, during the International Exposition Fair of Lima.

For those times, it was regarded as a revolutionary exploit. Its designer, Antonio Leonardi, conceived an architectonical complex with a Neo- renaissance style, framed by statues, gardens, a zoo and many other lesser buildings.

Afterwards it became the seat of the Sociedad de Bellas Artes or the Society of Fine Arts. During the times of the War of the Pacific it served as a blood hospital and as a garrison for the Chilean troops. Later on, it consecutively became the National Museum of History, the Chamber of Deputies, the Direction of Transit, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Municipality of Lima.

In the year of 1955, the Municipality handed the building over to the Patronato de las Artes. Without delay, and endowed by the UNESCO, it got completely refurbished and so became hence inaugurated the Museum of Art of Lima.

In the present times, it lays amidst one of the most dynamic and populated areas of the City. It comprises a constructed area of roughly 10 thousand square metres and has been declared Historical Monument by the Instituto Nacional de Cultura - National Institute of Culture.

A walk across its halls is nearly like taking a trip across three thousand years through Peruvian history. There is a deploy of some interesting exhibits of ceramics, textiles and metal works from most of the Pre-Hispanic cultures of Peru, let alone the most important collection of paintings and works of art that exists throughout the Country, besides, there is a library, a movie collection, and a workshop dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the National patrimony.

NATIONAL MUSEUM

Through its many halls the Museo de la Nación offers the visitor a trip around the diverse steps in Peruvian history.

The Pre-Hispanic Hall, also known as the Sala de la Recolección a la Agricultura or Hall from Recollection to Agriculture, enlightens about the first evidences of human presence among the Central Andes and of the evolution of architecture, from the pre-agricultural villages to the great monumental complexes.

Inside the Hall of the Formative Period can be admired an exhibition of some exquisite ceramic objects chronologically arranged from the beginnings of the use of clay as prime material to the different styles that surged in the Coast and the Sierra Highlands. There are also reproductions of the monolith known as Lanzón de Chavín and scale models from the Castle of Chavín, Chavín de Huantar and the Huaca de los Reyes archaeological complexes.

The Hall of Regional Development holds objects of the Vicus, Salinas, Virú, Lima and Paracas Cultures.

In the Nazca Hall can be seen the artistically achievements of this Southern Culture along with funerary bundles and aerial views of the most famous Lines of Nazca.

The Hall of the Moche Culture exhibits representations of the funerary usages and a sample of the last findings in Sipán. There is an interesting and finely done replica of the tomb, offerings and garments of the Lord of Sipán.

There are also the Halls of Kingdoms and Lordships (Salas de Reinos y Señoríos) where are displayed other interesting Cultures like Chimú, Chancay, Ichma or Pachacamac and others.

In the Hall of the Empire of the Incas can be learned the popular legend of Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo and the one of the Ayar Brothers, both explaining the foundation of the City of Cusco. There are also shown the primeval tribes that existed in the region of Cusco. It also includes an interesting collection of objects as keros and ceramics, besides several scale models of the most impressive architectonical complexes.

A special room contains an excellent set of objects that conforms the popular imaginary of Coast, the Sierra Highland and the Amazon Jungle.

The Museum also includes several halls for temporal exhibitions, like the Hall de Tiendas or Hall of Stands, the Sicán Hall, the Sipán Hall and Audiovisuals Hall.

RAFAEL LARCO HERRERA ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

It keeps a valuable collection that belongs to the Larco family, a collection that has become more impressive with the passing of time.
The Museum contains a number of showrooms distributed over two levels, and an open storeroom that remains open to the general public.

In the first level we can find:

Sala Erótica - Erotic Hall: This is the room in which the erotic huacos (a huaco is a Pre-Hispanic ceramic). In the first place can be seen those corresponding to the Salinar culture (which appeared around 500 years B.C.). These are the oldest erotic representation known.

In the Northern part of the Country, the Mochica Culture was the centre of production of numbers of erotic representations, being by far the most prolific in all America within this kind of artistic exploit, and from who remain the greatest numbers of them.

It also contains a patio, a garden and a terrace where the major part of the stones that the collection comprises have been distributed, in a display of monoliths, estelas (stelae or slim stone sculptures), mortar stones, scale models, and others alike.

On the second level we will find:

Sala de Momias - Hall of Mummies: it gives an idea of how the ancient Peruvians rendered cult to their dead. There can be observed the different burial methods practised in the Northern and Southern Coast of Peru.

Sala de la Cerámica - Hall of Ceramic: the different historical periods that went the Mochica Culture and the diverse styles that predominated throughout those periods can be observed in this room, as well as the distinct pottery from the North, Centre and South, as to form an idea of how the art was divided: sculptural in the North and polychromatic pictorial in the South.

Sala de los Metales - Hall of Metals: an exhibition of the metals known and worked upon by the ancient Peruvians. Also of the tools employed and the different techniques applied, like melting and laminating, embroidering, embossing, soldering, stretching, engraving, and others.

Sala de las Culturas - Hall of Cultures: arranged in 42 showcases are exhibited examples of pottery and other original objects from different cultures, embracing a time lapse from 7 thousand years B.C. until the decline of the indigenous art in the days of the Spanish invasion. It divides into four well defined sections: North Coast, Central Coast, Southern Coast and the cultures from the Sierra Highlands. The showcases have been arranged in order to establish a cultural sequence through time and space, being shown some unique pieces representing the most important cultures.

Sala Textil - Hall of Textiles: this is an exhibition of not only several selected fabrics from different places and cultures of Peru, but the original tools that were employed for that purpose and the cane cases where they used to be stored. Among those fabrics there is a beautiful textile from the Paracas Culture some 2,000 years old. Along with a fabric from the Ica Culture with large stylised motives, and a kind of shirt-poncho and a cloak from the Lambayeque Culture, this is a very rare item due to the difficulty to obtain well preserved fabrics from their tombs. Inside a special showcase is kept a very rare fragment of cloth that was made with 398 treads by linear inch, which constitutes a worldwide record throughout the past and present times.

Sala Lítica - Hall of Stones: inside its shelves can be appreciated selected pieces made in stone from the Chavín, Cupisnique, Pallasca, Callejón de Huaylas, Mochica, Colonial Cusco and Pacopampa Cultures.

Bóveda - Vault: is an exhibition of metalwork objects dating back to the times of the development of this topic to the extraordinary works of fine jewellery of the most advanced cultures. Not only on gold and silver were this works done, but moreover they were combined with applications in semi-precious stones like turquoises, quartz, amethysts and lapis lazuli.

Depósitos abiertos al público - Storerooms Open to the General Public: These are several rooms in which, properly displayed over shelves, the objects are arranged in accordance to their birthplace cultures, as well as their thematic motifs and series.

The Gallery of the Museum can be seen as an extra bonus. Actually, it can be regarded as an innovative enterprise, due to the fact that in its premises work the finest artisans from the same geographical areas where the most important Pre-Hispanic cultures developed, all of them advocated to the production of pottery, metalwork, textiles and other activities. In this way, those who over the past years were merely copyists of the ancient arts have now a formal job and their products have the support of the scientific backup and the resources of the Museum. The funds raised by this gallery are destined to the preservation and maintenance of the cultural patrimony of the Museum.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY AND HISTORY OF PERU.

This is the most important museum in its kind in the whole Country. It shows all of the archaeological and historical process in Peru. From the entrance, it will surprise the visitor by the sight of an impressive painting that shows the time and space relations between the principal Pre-Hispanic cultures from Peru with some of the greatest cultures from around the world.

Next, a group of showcases will explain step by step the evolutionary process of mankind, the peopling of America and the origins of culture among the Central Andes.

Among the most notable halls, we can mention that which comprises the Periodo Formativo, with samples of ceramics from some legendary Cultures as Kotosh and Chavín. From the latter stand out the famous stone sculptures known as Estela de Raimondi and the Obelisco Tello, important historical treasures left by the former Peruvian people.

There are also some rooms designated to the exhibition of those Cultures that were born onto the Christian era. So there can be seen the Nazca, Recuay, Pasash, Moche, Tiahuanaco and Lima Cultures. The Hall of Metallurgy shows a variety of beautiful metallic objects and their elaborating process. The Hall of Textiles contains precious fabrics from the most important Peruvian cultures.

Other rooms are dedicated to the Cultures of Chancay, Lambayeque and Chimú, to the Colonial time, to the Republic, with references to the War with Chile and another one devoted to objects and manifestations related to the upbringing of technology in the 20th Century, with a point on the evolution of the Andean culture over these years.