Why visit Lima, Peru? with penthouses to book: Several blocks east of the Plaza de Armas, Lima’s Church of the Nazarenas has a unique history. This area was once a poor neighborhood of freed black slaves, and in the middle of what was little more than a shanty town, an ex-slave painted a mural of the Crucifixion of Christ on a wall. In 1655, an earthquake leveled most of this area but left the wall standing intact. This was seen by the locals as a miracle, and Iglesia de Las Nazarenas was built around the wall with the image, which was known as El Senor de los Milagros. An oil replica is now mounted on this wall, which stands behind the altar. Each October 18, the painting is paraded through the streets in the El Senor de los Milagros Festival, accompanied by a procession that numbers in the thousands.
If not for the history – Ernest Hemingway and Walt Disney, among many others, have graced the halls of this hotel – then you must go for the pisco. The bartenders at Gran Hotel Bolivar serve a famous drink known as the Pisco Cathedral, made with 5 ounces (150 ml) of pisco. Not only is their pisco drink big; their bartenders also make some of the best pisco sours in the city. One part museum and one part bar; what’s not to like? After you take the tour of the museum, you can sit down and enjoy a pisco cocktail.
While the grandest and most significant of Peru’s many pre-Colombia monuments are found beyond the limits of the capital, Lima has a host of museums to whet your appetite for learning about the country’s ancient cultures. The oldest of all Peruvian museums is the mammoth-sized Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropologia, e Historia del Peru, covering every Peruvian culture you’ve ever heard of (and many you haven’t). You’ll find artifacts here that include the crossed hands stone from Kotosh and the seven-foot-high carved monolith, the Raimondi Stele from Chavin de Huantar. Only 35 kilometers southeast of the city, the Pachacamac site dates back to 200 AD, making it vastly older than Huaca Pucllana and practically ancient compared with Machu Picchu. Most of the buildings around today were built during Inca occupation in the 15th-century, and you’ll need a bit of imagination to return the adobe-brick temples to their former glory, many of which look like they’ve melted a bit in the sun. That said, if you want to get a glimpse of Peru before the Spanish arrived really, it’s an excellent place to start.
For traditional Peruvian handicrafts, try the numerous Artisanal Markets along Av. La Marina, just north of the neighborhood (technically in Pueblo Libre, which we’ll talk about next week). There are all the usual suspects of crafts from all over the country, and it’s a great place to go to get your last-minute gifts. The prices are slightly higher than they would be in a smaller town, but they’re lower than the artisan shopping area of Miraflores. See a few extra images of this fabulous ocean view penthouse on @AmazingPeruPenthouse on Facebook. Need a place to rent in Lima, Peru? See additional info at Amazing Penthouse in Lima, Peru.
If ancient monuments appeal to travelers, then Huaca Pucllana is the place to go; it’s considered one of Lima’s most important monuments. Located in Miraflores, this adobe pyramid was built around 500, but was later covered up and not rediscovered until the mid-20th century. Based on their excavations, archaeologists believe Huaca Pucllana was the ceremonial and administrative center for the early Lima culture. Many artifacts, including textiles, ceramics and animal remains, have been found here to support this theory. At one time, human sacrifices took place here. The complex includes the pyramid and a small museum filled with artifacts.