Fertur-Travel
Fertur-Travel
Explore the Lima day tours — the “City of Kings” — founded by Conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1535 on the shores of the River Rimac, eight miles inland from the Pacific Ocean — with a rainless desert to her north and south and the Andes mountain range rising at her back. Book your Lima private tours today with Fertur!
This great metropolis, from which Spanish influence and culture spread across South America, is deeply influenced by Andean, African, Asian and European influences.
Today that fusion of cultures and traditions have made this city a dynamic and diverse modern capital, replete with fascinating history, arts, architecture and amazing food in world renowned restaurants.
Located adjacent to Peru’s Government Palace, the Casa de Aliaga is Lima’s oldest colonial mansion still lived in by descendants of the original occupant. Built in 1535 by Spanish Conquistador Jeronimo de Aliaga y Ramírez, this ornate example of colonial architecture — with added republican-era touches — has been home to 17 generations of the Aliaga y Ramírez family. The portal entrance is framed by a republican-style enclosed balcony. The interior layout is different than other vice-regal mansions of the era. That is because it was constructed on the foundation of a pre-Hispanic temple. The staircase leads from the hallway to the courtyard, which in turn provides access to the mansion’s main entrance hall. Around that, there is a tiled hall, and the famous gilded hall, paneled with incredible golden framed mirrors. There is also the family chapel. The mansion contains masterfully crafted woodwork and works of art, which like the architecture, belong to different historic periods, but integrate harmoniously.
The Santo Domingo Convent is one of Lima’s most storied religious sites. With its exquisite dome and expansive cloisters, the convent reflects centuries of architectural development, and features a complex of ornate courtyards lined with baroque paintings and decorated with Moorish Spanish tile. The Dominican convent was founded in 1535. By the end of the 16th century, the lower levels of the main and second cloister were completed. Double story arcades were finished in the late 17th century. But earthquakes in 1687 and 1746 seriously damaged the quarters above the cloisters and had to be rebuilt. The upper galleries were refashioned in wood in the mid-18th century, featuring a design of alternating semi-circular arches and panels, perforated by a tapering oculus. The convent is best known as the resting place of three important Peruvian saints: Santa Rosa de Lima, San Juan Macías and San Martín de Porres. It also contains a library with some 25,000 volumes.
Housed within an 18th-century viceregal building, the Larco Museum isn’t just the finest repository of pre-Columbian art in Peru; it is one of the finest art museums in the world. Moreover, its brilliantly curated galleries invite visitors to explore the layers of history that have shaped Peru. When most travelers contemplate a vacation in Peru, their most common point of reference is that this is the Land of the Inca. What the Larco Museum demonstrates with its permanent collection of more than 45,000 pieces is that Peru was the world’s Sixth Cradles of Civilization, contemporaneous with Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, Mexico, and China. The Inca Empire lasted less than 100 years. In terms of pre-Columbian art, culture, and the ancient religious cosmovision, the Inca are the icing on the cake. As the director of the Larco, Andrés Álvarez Calderón, likes to say, the 3,500 years preceding the Inca are the cake. The Larco’s exhibits offer a wonderful presentation, explaining the lineage of Peruvian civilizations leading up to and through the Spanish Conquest.
The Torre Tagle Palace is one of the best preserved of Lima’s Spanish colonial-era mansions. It was built by José Bernardo de Tagle Bracho y Pérez de Riva, an aristocrat who arrived in Peru from Santander, Spain, in 1730 after being named treasurer of the Spanish Royal Armada by King Philip. The Spanish crown granted him the title Marquis of Torre Tagle. Construction of the palace began in 1733 and took two years to complete. The magnificent facade features a Baroque style stone portal, flanked by two large Renaissance balconies with Mudejar latticework. The interior is organized around a grand hallway divided by basket-handle arches, and two grand courtyards, typical of a viceroyalty dwelling. At the right side of the first court yard is a lateral staircase framed by a portal with columns and a trefoil arch. The building materials were all imported: tiles from Seville, Spain, stone for the columns and arches from Panama, and cedar wood for the balconies from Nicaragua. The Palace of Torre Tagle currently serves as thethe headquarters of Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Osambela Palace is a remarkable example of late 18th century architecture. Early colonial-era property registries and maps show that the land it occupies was first owned by the Dominican Monastery of our Lady of the Rosary. Following the 1746 earthquake, the property was sold to Spanish merchant Martín Oquendo de Osambela, who built the present building between 1798 and 1808, over what had been the monastery’s novitiate courtyard, cloister chambers and perimeter wall. The palace’s interior is organized around two courtyards and incorporates several of the original monastery rooms. The facade features an imposing three-story portal and five enclosed balconies. Atop the building is a lookout tower, from where the original owner would watch with a telescope for the sails of merchant ships setting anchor in the distant port of Callao.
This French-style mansion was built in 1906 along a ficus tree lined street in Lima’s seaside Barranco district by Don Pedro de Osma y Pardo. It passed in 1908 to his wife, Angélica Gildemeister. Their children, philanthropists and collectors Pedro y Angélica de Osma, converted the stately home into the Pedro de Osma Museum, filling it between 1936 and 1967 with acquisitions reflecting Peruvian art ranging from the 16th to the 19th century. Today, it is widely regarded as one of Peru’s finest private art collections.
Towering over Lima’s Port of Callao, the Royal Philip Fortress is a monument of 18th century military architecture. Viceroy José Antonio Manso de Velasco ordered its construction after the City of Kings was left open to attack by British buccaneers following the earthquake and tsunami of October 1746 that devastated Callao and its fortified walls. Luis Godin, a French engineer, was commissioned to design the fortress and construction began in August 1747. Its structure is an irregular pentagon shape, with five pentagonal bastions jutting out from the corners. After Viceroy Manuel de Amat y Junient arrived to Peru in 1761, the fortress’ defensive capacity was increased with the construction of three towers, named after the Spanish king, queen and the “Knight of the Twelve Cannons.” Later, in 1811, Viceroy Fernando de Abascal ordered further consolidation of the defensive structure. In 1974, the Royal Philip Fortress was restored and converted into a military museum to mark the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Ayacucho, in which the Spanish army was routed by Gen. Sucre’s forces, sealing Peru’s independence.
The Archbishop’s Palace of Lima dates back to 1556, when Peru’s second viceroy, Francisco de Toledo, commissioned its construction. It sustained severe earthquake damage in 1746. The building underwent a full neo-colonial architectural makeover a century and a half later. Its beautiful facade features a three-story stone portal, flanked by two fully enclosed balconies with Mudejar latticework. Since 2010, the palace has served as a museum, with 30 galleries featuring religious art from the 16th to 19th centuries, including paintings and sculptures, antique furniture and important Catholic artifacts. Its archiepiscopal chapel has an altarpiece from the 18th century carved in wood and gilded in gold leaf. Its beautiful façade also shows two mudejar style entirely carved wooden balconies.
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