Barranco, dare yourself to explore the bohemian district of Lime

I hope all of you are okay guys, in this post we're going to get to know one of the smaller districts but at the same time one of the more beautiful and complete of Lime, Barranco. It has almost everything, and that was the place where I lived for 1 year when I wanted to live alone out of my parents house.

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I chase Barranco because its a district with a lot of beautiful streets and also because is one of the most alive spots in Lime, that's why it's called "the bohemian district of Lime", where a lot of artists and poets lived and where the creole music was also so present.

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Nowadays Barranco is a district that I really appreciate, I have just lived here for a year but I was able to get to know this place and love it little by little and feel I have such a privilege to walk and in few minutes be able to stay at the seaside where I can observe the seaside with a book between mi hands or maybe just listen to some music with my headphones while I saw people at the sea or practicing surf.

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At the beginning of our tour I would recommend maybe at Barranco's main square where you could find the library and the church with its neoclassical style, in this street you're going to find activities every weekend organized by the community of Barranco, i would suggest you to sit for a moment in that area and observe the wonderful things that are surrounded yourself.

On normal and simple days you could see the kids playing at the park or couples sitting at the pergola situated inside Barranco's square.

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I remember that eventually there were small concerts of all kinds of music organised at the square. The most resemble at the square is almost always the oldest things Barranco's Library is something you need to take a picture as a memory ¡don't forget that! .

If we would like to talk more about the history of Barranco we could say that this district in Lime started just as an agriculture place and a sailor's village (normal because they have the sea in front of them). Before exits just like a normal district was part of another district, the actual district of "Santiago el Surco" and before the war against Chile, it was one of the most popular spas for the citizens of Lime (city).

Since 1874 the district of Barranco was created, this means that this place is approximately 142 years old, and in all of these years a lot of stories and characters along it existence.

A bit of history of Barraco and its chapel

The good thing about Barranco is that you can walk to almost every place without the necessity of taking any transport to go from one point to another, few steps from the main square of Barranco you can find another important spot of the district, this place is Barranco's chapel and its tradition tells that few fish man were lost at the sea and exactly in this point (the place of the chapel) they saw a light that help them to come back home safe, this is the reason why they decided to build the chapel in that exact point.

During the 19th century Barranco started to have a concrete shape with its monuments and interesting spots that we can see even today. More than an age ago here there was a train that connected the center of Lime with the district of Chorollos Also, there was a tram in the city but nowadays even if its still here its not a transport anymore but a touristic item that people use in order to make touristic tours along Pedro de Osma avenue.

The two main avenues of the city go through the main park of Barranco Grau and San Martín avenue, also along this area you can find a lot of smaller streets with local commerce like banks, restaurants, etc... For example I remember that it was typical for me to go to along Grau avenue to buy food when i wasn't in the mood to cook mi super tasty chaufa rice at my place I went to a restaurant which is close to Metro supermarkets.

Metro Supermarket

Here the difference with other districts in Lime is that this supermarket used to be the one just for normal food, but it modernized and now is a supermarket that offers anything the modern citizen could need. In other years when I drank a lot of alcohol I came here to buy lemons and ice to prepare my "chiclanos" and share them with friends who came to my place. ¡What an amazing times!

San Martín Avenue

Is a more relaxed and residential area in the district, for example there you can find hotels such as: Hotel B, which is one of the best boutique hotels in Lime and also cafes recommend in some websites like Ayahuesca, La posada del angel, and many more.

Union street and its chifa

If you visit Barranco you have to try the good restaurants and its good because in Barranco we can find these good and cheap restaurants, one of those is the Chung Yong restaurant it's a "Chifa" and the most popular dish there is the chaufa rice and also the noodles.

Its not only s reference spot for the citizens of Barranco, but also for another citizens around Lime, it's a chifa which made possible the reunion of artists and people who come looking for the best chifa of Lime and that's because here you can eat like the gods. It's because of that Lime is well-known as the gastronomic capital of America and Barranco is a good example of it. Here we could find some good places to eat with good prices, affordable for everyone.

If you go to this restaurant you should order the dishes I told you as an advice but don't worry if you wanna experience more different flavors because its menu is huge, and you could find more than 40 options which even include peruan-chinese fusion food.

Pedro de Osma Avenue

How to not mention this avenue where you can find big ficus and museum just like the electricity museum, Pedro de Osma museum and Mario Testino museum.

Sighs Bridge

As I told you everything is close in Barranco and you can go from one place to another by foot, really close to the main square walking down the stairs, there is the traditional sighs bridge.

This bridge was build in 1876, asked by the parishioners who should walk across to be able to go to the chapel. This bridge is not only an useful item but an iconic one. Nowadays, is very popular in Barranco and it matches with the beauty of this place. We could say this is the most important symbol of Barranco.

This bridge has tourists visiting it everyday and it was also an inspiration for the great singer Chabuca Granda who composed a song about this place and its tittle is also "El puente de los suspiros" thanks to this song the bridge is even more famous and eternal for the Lime's citizens.

Going down the baths

Under the sighs bridge there is the down of the baths which is no doubt one of the most beautiful places of Barranco, its history started since those times when the Barranco's sailors came here in order to to go to the seaside to look for the fish.

This down was build since the war against Chile and nowadays is one of the spots that you can't miss to go to the sea while going through the old houses and also some restaurants, you could also find different old guys inviting you to come inside their business, they even tell you that if you don't like them you don't have to pay.

About the place, some different big old houses with their wooden terraces and its beautiful colors were build that now are a magical place to take pictures.

You can find a lot of things here.

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The Funicular

At the end of Domeyer street you can also find another attractive item known as Barranco's funicular which is from 1930 when it started to function, this was meant to help people go down from the high part of the district to the barranquillo sea area.

Every 30 minutes it goes down and almost 24 people go out of it. as part of its history I can tell you in year 1971 stopped working but, could you imagine how beautiful this could seems if this was able to work again? I would go!

A wonderful place to stay in Lime

A lot of citizens from Lime couldn't deny me this opinion and this one is that Barranco is a perfect place to live in Lime. Its big houses and its views to the sea what else could you ask for? Also you have the residential places and stuff that you can find there.

A district that even it's really old we can still consider a tourist place due to all the visitors it has everyday just like the Miraflores district and the historic center of Lime.

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Cajamarca Street

I recommend you walk through it streets and you will realize how much art you can see here. At Cajamarca street you can also find special designs on its facades which are worth to stop and take a look, it has an old atmosphere but at the same time and urban touch that everyone wants to experiment.

Really close to this area you also have Bolognesi Avenue where you can find some old houses but that nowadays is mostly the avenue where the transport service goes through and this goes from Comas to Chorrillos.

This line in Barranco is the one that i took from the station Boulevard to be able to go to my job everyday which was located in San Isidro, with the metropolitan transport my trip was about 20 minutes long but on the other hand with the bus it could be more time. What a wonderful times living in this district that now I remember with joy.

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Chipoco Stadium

Another well-known place in Barranco is related with sports and with this I'm talking about the Chipioco stadium which is dated from 1960, the difference between this club and any other club in Lima is that here athleticism is more common than football.

Quebrada de Almendariz

This place separates the districts of Barranco and Miraflores and today is one of the entrees to the beaches, is a zone of fast acces for cars.

This part of the district is one of the favorite places for walking and if you like running you can do that too. Also, take a breath of fresh air and see the pacific ocean, the parks, and all places are part of the Lime's citizens and it's a nexus between past and present.

Is where big old houses are and we should visit it indeed.

Barranco's beach

Go to the beach in Lime is a privilege and the people who live in Barranco is really lucky, between December and April is when more tourists go there.

Also Barranco has a lot of good restaurants at the seaside, there we have beaches like: pavos, barranquito and yuyos.

Between all mentioned the beach of Barranco is the one I used to go when I lived here and I always find myself in this place observing the waves of the sea.

Eat a well done ceviche in Barranco is something you should experiment at the markets o inside the exclusive restaurants along this district.

Unique architecture

One of the things that distinguished Barranco from other districts is its incredible antique architecture, every place you walked by you will always find nice houses no matter the style, and because of that you could realize you are at the antique area of Lime. Time did pass away but Barranco still looks very special.

If i would have the option of living in any place in Lime I would choose Barranco again because you can find a lot of nice places by foot.

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Here there are the San Francisco church, Pedro de Osma avenue and the Saenz Peña avenue as examples of some streets and avenues which are hidden in order to be discovered.

Invest in old antique houses is one of the big challenges Barranco has nowadays, an example of that is: Hotel B, one of the most beautiful of Lime.

In Barranco we also have the house of a popular sculptor very well-known in Lime Victor Delfín, the one who created El beso monument, located in Miraflores district.

His house is inside and also outside a real work of art apart from buying some items. How lucky this man was to have this intimate and special place, this house in a wonderful spot of the city, between the precipices and his own art. Original and authentic as just this man, Delfín, could have created with his blessed hands.

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Pedro de Osma

One of the beauties this precipice has is without doubt the house of Pedro de Osma, which is actually a museum with a Virreinal art collection. The most impressing is its french style architecture apart from the gardens. Its construction is from the year 1906.

Barranco and its Pedro de Osma museum were and still are fascinating places for us to get to know this collection and visit it, is one of the best on its field the colonial art in Lime ¡visit it!

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Mario Testino museum o MATE

There is a house which has the same style and inside it has a big collection of pictures of the photographer Mario Testino, one of the most famous fashion photographers of all times.

Electricity museum

All of these museums are really close to each other, and there we also have the electricity museum, this museum explain for example: the didactic way how

much energy is consumed when we use different electronic devices.

You can also find objects that were used at the beginning of the electric era, I visited this museum on special days when it was free for everyone.

Contemporary art museum

Almost 14 thousand square meters you can walk in this museum to get to know all aspects of the Peruvian art.

Dedalo gallery

Barranco wouldn't be the district that actually is if wasn't because of the people who live there, the relationship between its neighbors is something you can only appreciate in Barranco for example, there we have the grandiose Wendy Ramos, one of the Peruvian women I personally admire.

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Nightlife in Barranco

On weekends, you're going to see there are more people specially at night, there are some places you can still visit for all preferences.

For example, there you can find a train which is actually called "Posada del angel" and it turned into a bar located on one side of the square, also we have the sighs bridge illuminated o go through its esplanade where even with the modern buildings along it still has a peaceful and tranquility touch.

"Antichuchos" are another really good dish someone could eat in Barranco. One good place for nightlife is Tío Mario and also Javier restaurant, there are people who just came at night for partying and for the cultural movement. However, Barranco has things to offer at any moment of the day.

A lot of artist are related with Barranco and they lived here, and a lot more will come too. If you wanna try something else here you can always go to "sanguchería moustrous".

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Although, the center of the place for partying in Barranco is the Boulevard zone and in one of its corners at the end of the way there is La Noche cultural center, where Peruvian Rock and international music are predominated.

Is perfect to listen to a lot of bands playing their songs, you can also go to other places like "Juanito" where you can buy a very tasty sanghuches, also Piselli Bar for trying the typical cocktails of Lime.

If you want more things related with Trova then you should go to Posada del angel and also if you're seeking for a modern bar but old at the same time you have to go to Ayuhuasca, with its eclectic style and neon lights which made Barranco a perfect place to try the most important distillates pisco. Ayuhuasca has more than 130 years and its very popular. The best things of this bar are macerados de pisco and anticuchos.

My conclusion of Barranco

Barranco is a wonderful district, a district with a lot of destinations we could discover by its art and culture. If you still don't know Barranco I hope these lines help you to have a more clear idea about which things you can find here.

Visit Barranco! I'm sure you are going to have an incredible experience. thank you very much for reading this post and I hope you will continue discovering Barranco more and more and also my lovely city, Lime.

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