5 Churches in Lima you need to visit

Hello everyone!

I hope each one of you is well!

The centre of Lima is a true gem where we can find marvellous religious art that leaves us with a desire to discover more and more about our city.

A city that has been declared a World Cultural Heritage Site and where, during Colonial times, many religious figures lived, for example Santa Rosa de Lima, San Martín de Porres and San Juan Masias.

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Since the establishment of the city of Lima we have seen that Lima is destined to become a kind of Holy city: the truth is we have a huge number of members of the church in our history, and different religious orders that arrived in force since Lima was the political centre once known as the "Viceroyalty of Peru".

Walking through Lima you are transported back in time. Without going far, we can start our journey into the past beginning at our very own Plaza de Armas, where we are going to find our first church. I am of course referring to the one and only "Cathedral of Lima".

Throughout this explanation I want to encourage you to discover both the centre of Lima, and each individual one of the next five churches - I am sure that once you see them, you will be filled with the same emotions that I am every time I visit them. Don't think of me as a religious person, or a believer. In fact, it is the opposite! I consider myself agnostic, however I cannot deny the pull I feel from all the Colonial artwork and the historical things that Lima has to offer.

The first thing I would like to comment on is that it is thanks to having the opportunity of studying tourism that I have explored each one of these churches that I am going to show you and why I have been thinking of which could be the five most beautiful that we have in the centre of Lima.

Without further ado, lets explore the top five churches that you need to visit on your next trip to Lima:

1. Church of San Francisco
2. Church of San Pedro
3. Cathedral of Lima
4. Church of La Merced
5. Church of San Agustin de Lima

Church of San Francisco

Of all the churches that I am going to reccommend in this article, this is the church that I like the most and that's why I have put it as number one on my list of religious temples inside the city of Lima.

This place is not only a church but a museum as well, and one of the most visited in all of Lima. Here I have the opportunity to be a tour guide for four months where I have been able to learn each one of the religious aspects that the majority of churches in Lima conform to.

Here not only will we find religious art, but also another attraction, which maybe is the one that most visitors come to see. I am referring to the famous catacombs of San Francisco found beneath the church as historically, people thought that the way to be closer to God was to be totally beneath church.

However, perhaps when you come here you will be amazed to find much more than catacombs, because the religious art that San Francisco has is one of the richest in Lima. Firstly, one of the aspects that I like most about Lima is the Mudejar style vault that is located on the main staircase.

Another of the aspects to cover are the interesting cloisters with Sevillian tiles, as well as finding an interesting collection from a flamenco school of the great painter Pedro Pablo Rubens.

Church of San Pedro

This next church is different to the first one in the way that it is not a museum, but it has all the qualities it needs to become one, as on the exterior it has a Neoclassical style similar to its altar which was made by Presbitero Matías Maestro.

However, once you enter inside this church, you will see the marvelous coiffured ceiling and the gold leaf decoration that you can find on the inside. One of the most famous Virgins in this church is the "Virgen of the O".

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San Pedro is one of the churches that belonged to the Jesuit Order until they were expelled by the Spanish crown after the Borbonic reforms they made.

The San Pedro Church is also one of the most in-demand churches to carry out wedding ceremonies in the centre of Lima, due to its dream-like setting, its coiffured ceiling and its beauty that makes it a strong competition for the other churches that are found in Lima. On the other hand, something characteristic about this church is that, despite it not having the classification of being a cathedral, it is the only church that you will find in the city that has three entrances from the centre of Lima, something which, according to the rules of the time, only cathedrals were allowed to have. How did they resolve this controversy? The reality was quite simple, they had to shut the doors on the sides of the church, and just keep the central door open.

The church of San Pedro and Lima itself are surrounded by so much history that I could never finish telling you all that could be said about here.

Cathedral of Lima

I have named this cathedral as one of the churches that I like the most in the city of Lima due to its history and how it is strategically located in our Plaza de Armas. The Cathedral of Lima is from the same time that Lima was founded as a Colonial city.

Inside the cathdedral you will also find the remains of Francisco Pizarro who was the man who founded the city of Lima on the 18th January 1535, precisely in the middle of the Plaza de Armas. Francisco Pizarro was murdered in the same stalls within the cathedral by the son of another conqueror called Almagro.

The cathedral is part of our religious symbol and one of the most important temples that we have in Peru. This place is also a museum for those who want to see a lot of religious art and especially each of its structures that make it a jewel of Lima as they have been affected by the constant earthquakes that the city of Lima has endured throughout its history.

Church of La Merced

Located on the Jirón de la Union, the church of La Merced is also one of the main churches in Lima. For example, you can find the façade made of engraved stone and Solomonic columns, as well as having an image of the Virgin of Mercy raising her two arms in its main niche, as if wanting to welcome us to her enclosure.

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On the other hand, inside this church in the centre of Lima, you can find a cross known as the Cruz del Padre Urraca. It is located on the right hand side as you walk in and it is one of the most revered crosses in the centre of Peru, due to the amount of followers of the Catholic faith here.

Church of San Agustin

This last church I would like to reccommend as one of my favourites because of its great historical legacy, mayybe inside they have been able to lose many of its important relics, however it is undeniable that its beauty lies in its incredible facade see it yourself:

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You could say that it is a strong competitor for the Church of La Merced, or better, you could say that both of these churches are beautiful. They have quite similar structures, and whilst the first is missing one tower, the second is missing two.

In front of the church, you will also find a plaza where you can sit and relax and contemplate the beauty of the exterior of this church, and also if you go during the evening, you can see it illuminated where it seems much more special and you can see each and every detail of it.

It is definitely worth it!

Is it only these churches that are the best?

The simple answer is no!

My dear friends, throughout this journey through the centre of Lima you will have realised that there are many beautiful churches with long histories and that are just waiting to be visited by each one of us. These monuments are something that in reality makes me feel so proud of their legacy, as well as being places to take advantage of getting to know churches, as well as different themed museums in the centre of Lima.

The centre of Lima has so many different churches, for example, during the colonial period, 10% of the population belonged to a religious order, due to this, the Catholic presence in Lima is quite strong and although I told you that I am not religious or anything like that, I still value every one of the times that Lima has gone through and colonial and religious art is one of the ones I like the most.

Within the city we also have lots of other good representatives of religious art like inside the church of Santo Domingo, the church of las Nazarenas, the church of Concepción, the church of San Marcelo, as well as in Sanctuaries like the Sanctuary of Santa Rosa of Lima, who was the first Saint of this continent. There is something for everyone!

I am more than sure that you will find out that each of these temples will be a great experience, like we have been able to see there are some that are museums as well and some that are just temples for now, however they have all the potential to become museums in the future, and maybe even become a UNESCO World Cultureal Heritage Sites.

How to get to the centre of Lima?

In order to arrive in the centre of Lima, there are a few different options like for example, by metro take the C or A line and get off at the station Jirón de la Union. From here you can start to discover all of the attractions that this city has to offer.

I hope that you liked each one of these bits and thank you with all my heart for reading each one of my articles written with love about the city that I was born in. I hope that you all have a great weekend and I will see you in the next article with more of the history of Lima!

Kind regards!

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