Walking Tour of Centro Histórico

On the Plaza Mayor de Lima.
You know you are on the Main Square of any Latin American capital when, on one side of the square is
the main government building and another side is the Cathedral.

Every city in Latin America has a  Centro Histórico, the historic center. And every city of any consequence has a free walking tour for which you pay by tipping the guide at the end of the tour. Let's combine these two. Let's take a free walking tour of the Centro Histórico of Lima.

The meeting point for the walk was Iglesia de la Merced, a five-century old church.

The church is old, but I believe that the facade is a recreation. That is a common theme in the Centro Histórico. This is earthquake country, after all.

Across the Plazuela de la Merced is El Monumento a Ramón Castilla, the Monument to Ramón Castilla

Who is he? Why is he here? Why does he spend eternity looking at the beautiful facade of the Iglesia de la Merced? Only so many of my questions got answered on the free walking tour. And this was not one.

We walk down the Jiron de la Union and soon come upon this interesting looking building built in a different style from the rest of the Centro Histórico.

This formerly was the House of Photography, which housed photography or, more specifically, an extensive collection of old photographs of Lima. The photographs may be gone, but the photo opportunity is still there.

The style is art nouveau, which is an architectural style that, in Peru, may be limited to this single building. It reminds me of the Gaudi designed buildings in Barcelona. 

This is our free walking group. The reason for this photo is that it was the first of the "closed balconies" that I saw on a building in Lima, or, specifically, the Centro Histórico. The enclosed balconies are a signature feature of Peruvian architecture. Or at least I thought. I saw far fewer of these than I expected.

We soon reached Plaza Mayor:

This is the historic center of Lima's Historic Center.

That is the Club de la Unión building, significant enough to warrant placement on one side of the Plaza Mayor.

There is a fountain in the center, of course.

And, on the southeast side of the square -- since the sides are southeast, southwest, northwest and northeast rather than north east south and west I guess that makes this more of a "diamond" than a "square" per se -- on the southeast side of this diamond that we will call a square is the main cathedral of Lima. More of that later. In another post.

Walking down from the Plaza Mayor, down Jiron Ica, is the Iglesia de San Agustin.

It is closed for renovation. It was supposed to be renovated in time for the Peruvian bicentennial. But COVID happened and the renovation is moving along much more slowly than anticipated.

Again, the facade is a reproduction. Again, I think it is earthquake. It also could have happened in the war with Chile. Apparently much of the city was destroyed in a war with Chile (more on that later in the walking tour), so all damage is either earthquake or Chilean war.

But nobody blames the Chifa for any destruction in Peru.

"Chifa" is the fusion cuisine of Peru and China. In fact, much of what we consider Peruvian food is "chifa." Lomo saltado, for example, which, once this was mentioned, definitely seems to have a Chinese type preparation method. On the other hand, the unofficial national dish of Peru -- ceviche -- is all Peru. Although not from Lima. It's from Trujillo on the northern coast.

Next door to the Iglesia de San Agustin is the accompanying convent:

Convento Nuestra Señora de Gracia - Orden de San Agustín.

This is Teatro Municipal de Lima.

This is the performing arts center for Lima, fine arts dvision.  This is where you will find your opera and your ballet and the other pinkies-out performing arts.

Casa Fernandini:

If you look real close, you can see an ornate chandelier in the open window in the middle of the second floor.

But the neighborhood soon looks a little beaten-up:

The streets are perfectly safe (at least during the day) (probably into the evening here, too), but they are a little frayed in parts.

We then come to an interesting structure that I intended to visit after the walking tour (but I forgot until just now):

El Museo de los Combatientes de Arica. This is a museum dedicated to war with Chile. In that war, Chile extended its territory northward, taking away Bolivia's sea access (to get saltpeter mines, the important chemical in the manufacture of gun powder). Peru lost Arica. And the Chilean army sacked and destroyed Lima during the war.

One thing I learned today: Peruanos do not like Chilenos. It's like the Irish and the English. Croatians and Serbs. Ukes and Russians. The animosity may run both ways, but is much stronger in one direction than the other. I did not know this until today. But, much as the Peruanos despise the Chilenos, they really hate the Bolivians. The Bolivians switched sides in the war to help Chile and everyone hates a betrayer more than any other enemy.

We have now entered Lima's Centro Histórico's "Blue Period." This is the Case de Osambela.

This is the Basilica and Convent of Santo Domingo:

Casa de la Gastronomía peruana:

The House of Peruvian Gastronomy. You would have thought I would have been all over this particular house. But, unfortunately, closed to the public today. No Peruvian gastronomy for me on this day at this house.

Plaza Peru:

It has fountains, but these are not the most famous fountains in Lima. That would be the Circuito Mágico del Agua, south of the Centro Histórico. Those are supposed to be lit up spectacularly at night. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next time in Lima.

And we're back on the Plaza Mayor.

In front of the Cathedral:

And the Government Palace of Peru, El Palacio de Gobierno de la República del Perú, on the northeast side of the diamond that is the Plaza Mayor.

We then walk toward the Museo del Convento de San Francisco:

It too is under renovation.

But it is open for touring. The catacombs underneath this church are a popular tourist tour in Lima.

And soon we reach the end of the free walking tour:

Parque de la Muralla. This is a city park where the city walls of Lima once stood.

The walls are gone.

But Francisco Pizarro is here.

The tour ended on a bridge over the railroad tracks where you can look down on the statue of the conqueror of the Inca Empire Francisco Pizarro. Yes, Lima has train tracks. Freight trains throughout the year, but an ancient steam passenger train runs in July. This is not July. So it is time to tip the guide and wander the Centro Histórico on my own.

Walking Around Antigua without a Guide

The Arch and the Volcano: the signature view of Antigua

The City of Antigua, Guatemala, is quite compact. Most of the sights -- and by "sights" I mean "church ruins" -- are in a small area that measures, roughly six blocks by six blocks. There are a few ruins that stray outside that square. And the Cerro de la Cruz (big cross on a hillside) overlooking the city is well outside the square (and unvisited for today). But the main sights are in a confined space.

And this being Guatemala, what other way is there to start the day than with a big ol' cup of Guatemalan bean coffee?

Fortified with the requisite caffeine, it's time to take in the ruins.

The first set of ruinizations would be the remnants of Iglesia San Agustin.

Some of the ruins are open for exploration. Some are not. Iglesia San Agustin is a "not."

Off to trod more of the cobblestone streets of Antigua, with an emphasis on the "cobble" part.

Tomorrow I wear hiking boots, which will make walking on the uneven stones much easier on the feet. And, after only a few blocks, I came upon the most famous, most photographed tourist site in all of Guatemala: the Arco de Santa Catalina.

It is an arch over a street that in the old days of the city functioned as a way for cloistered nuns to get from one building on one side of the street to the other without being exposed to humanity, since their vows allowed no interaction with the rest of the human race.

There are days that I have great envy for such a lifestyle.

Once you cross under the Arch ("arco" is the Spanish word for "arch," not "gas station"), you quickly arrive at the grounds of the Iglesia de la Merced.

Which is not in ruins.

It appears to be an actual functioning non-ruined church.

On the other hand, you don't have to walk far to come upon another church ruin.

Antiguo Colegio de la Compañía de Jesús. Only this may not be complete ruins (sort of like my hotel, which is a hybrid of church ruins and useful structure).

Would there be that many motorbikes if these were ruins?

Lots of motorbikes at the Helados Marco Polo ice cream store, too.

Then it is off to the Plaza Mayor,

The highlight of Antigua's Parque Central is this fountain. It includes a woman who has streams of water flowing out from her breast nipples.

That was the profile view. Here she is in landscape.

That is definitely something you do not see everyday.

And here is another hybrid of ruins and function,  This is the Cathedral of Antigua Guatemala, the Catedral San José.

It is a functioning cathedral, on the modern side.

Nicely ornate but nothing like you know these ruins were in their day.

But attached to the functional cathedral is the property for the glorious ruins of the Catedral San José.

Which you can tour!

Which I did. The above damage, with the crumpled column, is not from the massive 1773 earthquake that destroyed Antigua. That damage is more modern. It's from the massive 1976 earthquake that struck Guatemala City.

Antigua and Guatemala City both sit at a point where three tectonic plates collide. California thinks life is difficult on the edges of two tectonic plates. This is where the North American, the Caribbean, and the Cocos Plate (a small plate off the Pacific coast of Central America) collide (often) violently.

So why build cities here and risk such massive destruction? The volcanoes of Guatemala mean that there is extremely rich soil for agriculture, making it worth putting up with the shaking and quaking.

Even if it leaves your beautiful cathedrals in ruins.

The building must have been absolutely spectacular in its day.

One last set of ruins for the day. These are Las ruinas iglesia de la Concepción, the ruins of the Church of the Concepcion.

Lots of work currently being done to get these ruins in good enough shape to show off.

At this point, the sky was looking like some rain. Time for an afternoon break.