2000 Jungle Journal

As for the statue of Pizarro, it is now located off in a corner of the Plaza.  Pizarro was the Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca and founded the city of Lima.  There is a story that says that the statue used to be in the center of the Plaza.  However, the rear of the horse was facing the church, and the priests were unhappy about having their church look at the horse's rear.  So they petitioned the governor and had the statue moved to its present location.

Walking out of the Plaza de Armas, we continued on the Jiron de La Union.  This is a pedestrian only street, which connects to the Plaza San Martin.  The focus of this Plaza is a statue of General Jose de San Martin.  (You can tell they like statues in Peru.)  The General liberated Chile, Argentina and in 1821, Peru from Spanish rule.

When the conquistadors came to the new world, they were always accompanied by some type of priest.  The priests were busy trying to convert the "heathens".  As part of their efforts, the priests often incorporated local customs into their services and when they would build their churches, they would build them on top of existing religious buildings or pyramids.  This would add an instant level of mysticism to the new religion.

The churches in Lima, as well as in the rest of Peru, were built in a very ornate style.  Most of the original buildings, churches included, have been damaged or destroyed by the many earthquakes that occur here.  One of the oldest buildings is, of course, a church.  This is the Franciscan Church and Monastery San Francisco.  Built prior to 1687, it has withstood all the earthquakes, although it has sustained damage.

20 years ago, after one such earthquake, it was discovered that over the centuries, fresco upon fresco were painted on the walls of this church.  The earthquake had an unexpected effect when it knocked some plaster off the walls.  Presto, like magic, fabulous, antique frescos were discovered on the walls beneath the plaster.

One of the highlights of our tour of this church was a visit to the Catacombs dug beneath the building.  The Catacombs are the site of the original burials for the residents of Lima.  Before the church stopped this practice in the early 1800's, between 25,000 and 70,000 people were buried here.  In fact, as we walked under the church, we could still see crypts filled with bones.  Very bizarre!  Then the people forgot about the catacombs until they were rediscovered in the early 20th Century.

An interesting museum we visited was the Museo Rafael Larco Herrera..  Larco Herrera was an archeologist (actually an early pot hunter) who discovered hundreds of ancient sites in the 1920's.  The storage for the museum is open to visitors.  There are shelves literally up to the ceiling FULL of magnificent pots, carvings and other ceramics roughly grouped together into categories like people, animals, food and my favorite, human sacrifice.  There is also an entire room devoted to erotic ceramics.

There is an organization in Lima that helps travelers and explorers in South America.  It is called the South American Explorers Club (SAE).  We made sure we joined as members before leaving for Peru.  While we were in Lima, we stopped at the clubhouse to avail ourselves of their help and information.  The SAE has an extensive library of books, maps and travel reports prepared by other travelers.  These reports are filed by region and date.  We were able to read reports on travel and jungle lodges as well as getting info on the other places we intend to explore, like Machu Picchu.