Cathedral of Lima
Main Square.
Telephone: (511) 427-9647.
Visiting hours: Mon. – Sat. 9:00 A.M. – 4:30 P.M.
It is placed where the first Main Church of Lima was. The interior is austere, although it shelters real historic jewels like the finely carved wooden pews of the Baltasar Noguera choir, different side altars, and the remains of Francisco Pizarro. In addition, you can visit the Museum of Religious Art that possesses an important collection of canvases, sculptures, chalices, and chasubles.

Cathedral Museum
Located inside the Cathedral of Trujillo
Here are kept objects related to liturgy, carvings, and paintings of the colonial period; among these, two canvasses stand out: "La Negación de San Pedro" (The Denial of Saint Peter) and the portrait of John the Baptist. Characteristics of this building are its ceiling ornamented with polychromatic beams and the crypt decorated with murals of the Apostles.

Church and Convent of La Merced
Calle Mantas. Cusco.
Visiting hours: Mon. – Sun. 8:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. and 2:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
The Baroque church was built between 1657 and 1680. The sacristy holds its most precious treasure: an impressive gold and gemstones encrusted monstrance, 1,3 meters / 3 feet high and of 22 kilos. It is crowned with one large mermaid shaped pearl, considered the second largest in the world.

Church and Convent of Santo Domingo / Koricancha
Plaza Intipampa, corner of Avenida El Sol and Calle Santo Domingo.
Visiting hours: Mon. – Sat. 8:30 A.M. – 6:30 P.M. and Sun. 2:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
The Koricancha was one of the most impressive buildings of Inca Cusco according to the historians: the glowing gilding of the interior walls illuminated what used to be the main temple dedicated to the worship of the Sun God. The Spanish built the church and Dominican convent on top of the original structure around 1534 but they collapsed during the earthquake of 1650 and were rebuilt around 1681. The convent possesses an art gallery of valuable seventeenth and eighteenth century canvasses.

Church of the Company of Jesus Christ
Templo de la Compañía de Jesús
Main Square, Cusco.
The original building was raised in 1571 on the grounds of the ancient palace of Inca Huayna Cápac, the Amarucancha. After the earthquake of 1650, it was rebuilt around 1688. The design and the façade are examples of Andean Baroque. The retable style entrance is decorated with medium size towers and the stonewalls are carefully worked. Once inside, the triple bodied upper altar with salomonic columns, the wooden pulpit, and numerous Baroque, Plateresque, and Churrigueresque shrines catch the eye. The most remarkable work of art is “El matrimonio de Martín García de Loyola con Beatriz Clara Coya“ (The Wedding of Martín García de Loyola with Beatriz Clara Coya).

Church of Las Nazarenas
Intersection of Jiron Huancavelica and Jiron Tacna.
Telephone: (511) 423-5718. Visiting hours: 7:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M. – 8:30 P.M.
It was constructed in the second half of the eighteenth century on the old lands of the Colonial neighborhood, Pachacamilla. The central part of the altar is formed by two fluted and gold leaf covered Tuscan pilasters that hold up the Baroque front. In the interior of the altar, like an urn, you see the image of the Lord of Miracles, an oil painting on a rough adobe wall.
According to tradition, during the seventeenth century, this image of Christ was painted by a black slave. It is the only wall that remained standing after the earthquakes of 1655, 1687, and 1746. Each year in October, a huge procession with the replica of the image of the Purple Christ, as he is also known, moves through the streets of Lima.

Church of San Pedro
Jiron Ucayali 451. Lima.
Telephone: (511) 428-3017.
Visiting hours: Mon. – Sun. 9:30 A.M. – 11:45 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
Built in 1636, the first floor was inspired by the main Jesuit church in Rome and has three naves. It is the only church in Lima with three entrances, which is a characteristic of a cathedral. What stands out is the magnificent Churrigueresque shrines and the space of the central naves that seem to be surrounded by paintings and tiles. There are many works of art from the Lima, Cusco, and QuitoSchools, a series of gilded carvings of the founders of some religious orders, and a painting of the coronation of the Virgin by Bernardo Bitti.

La Recoleta Convent (Convento de La Recoleta)
Jiron Recoleta 117. Yanahuara, Arequipa.
Telephone: (054) 27-0966.
Visiting hours: Mon. – Sat. 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. and 3:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
A Franciscan convent founded in 1848, open to the public since 1978. It features various styles that include Romantic and Neo-gothic styles due to its different remodeling campaigns (the last one in 1940). It has four cloisters and eleven sectors, as well as two pre-Colombian art rooms, two others dedicated to the AmazonRain Forest, and another to religious art. It also has a gallery exhibiting canvasses from the Cusco and ArequipaSchools and a valuable library that protects more than 20.000 volumes and ancient books.

Ocopa Convent
25 km / 16 miles northwest of Huancayo (30 minutes by car).
Visiting hours: Wed. – Mon. 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. and 3:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
It is an ancient Franciscan convent founded in 1725. It was the starting point of the missionaries who went out to preach the different settlements in the jungle during the Vice-royalty. Its main attractions are the Gallery, the Library, which houses around 20.000 volumes (among them are numerous incunables and some bibliographic jewels), and the Natural History Museum of the Jungle, which shows the scientific and cultural work done by the Franciscan priests.

Santa Catalina Monastery
Monasterio de Santa Catalina
Calle Santa Catalina 301. Arequipa.
Visiting hours: Mon. – Sun. 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Constructed to shelter the daughters of the wealthiest families of the city with a religious vocation, the monastery was inaugurated on October 2, 1580, under the name of Santa Catalina of Siena to be a totaly cloistered religious center, and it remained that way until August 15, 1970. It occupies an approximate area of 20.000 m2 (215.285 feet2), and its placement is similar to the first neighborhoods of Arequipa. The building exhibits rooms of very different architectural design. One of the areas has been established as a gallery to display the canvasses of the Cusco, Quito, and ArequipaSchools. There are other rooms, or sectors, to visit as well, like el Claustro de la Portería (the Gate Cloister), el Museo Precolombino (the pre-Colombian Museum), el Claustro de San Francisco (the Cloister of Saint Francis), etc.

San FranciscoChurch (originally named San Antonio)
Jiron 2 de Mayo. Cajamarca.
Visiting hours: Mon. – Fir. 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
It was built in 1699 with the carved stones of the “Casa de la Sierpe”, a house owned by Cajamarca’s chief, don Calixto Astopilco, and with stones from the Santa Apolonia hill. In 1952, some catacombs housing the remains of numerous Franciscan monks and members of the indigenous nobility were discovered underneath the upper altar. Besides the church, you can visit the convent, the Museo de Arte Religioso (Museum of Religious Art), and the Sanctuary of the Virgen Dolorosa (Sorrowful Virgin), the city’s patron saint. You can see the image of the Virgin in the Capilla del Sagrario (Chapel of the Tabernacle) of 1685, which lies adjacent to the church, and there are beautifully worked baroque carvings, high relief stone carvings of the life of Jesus, and the finely carved wooden pews of the choir.

Santa Catalina Museum
Calle Santa Catalina Angosta. Cusco.
Visiting hours: Mon. – Sat. 9:00 A.M. – 4:30 P.M. and Fri. 9:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M.
Here they exhibit paintings, textiles, woodcarvings, and Colonial altarpieces. The best among them are Diego Quispe Tito’s paintings, the Arcade carpet, and religious ornaments made of gold and silver threads.

Santo Domingo Church and Convent
Intersection of Jirones Conde de Superunda y Camana. Lima.
Telephone: (511) 427-6793.
Visiting hours: Mon. – Sat. 9:00 A.M. – 12:30 P.M. and 3:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M. Sunday and holidays: 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.
The church has three naves with an impressive cupola and finely carved cedar pews in the choir. The convent walls are decorated with tiles from Seville, and the main room features Baroque carvings. In 1551, the first university founded by the Spanish crown in the New World, the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, was established in the convent.

Santa Lucia Church of Ferreñafe
18 km / 11 miles north of Chiclayo (25 minutes by car), across from the Main Square
Built in 1552, it exhibits unique Baroque wood carvings and marble altars. Architecturally it is characterized by columns with angular points that decorate the façade, that show in precise details the “Eyes of Saint Lucia”, patron saint of the city, between its two towers with semicircular cupolas.

Santa Rosa de Lima Church and Monastery
Avenida Tacna, block 1; 4 blocks from the Main Square.
Telephone: (511) 425-1279. Visiting hours: Mon. – Sun. 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. and 3:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
The complex is made up of the Church and the Sanctuary. It was built between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries next to the house where Santa Rosa de Lima, patron saint of Lima, the Americas, and the Philippines, was born and lived. Highlights to see are the chapel, built in 1614, the lemon orchard planted by the saint, and the 19 meter deep well where, as the story says, she threw the key to the belt that she cinched on herself as a sign of penitence.

Los Descalzos Church and Convent
Alameda de los Descalzos.
Telephone: (511) 481-0441.
Visiting hours: Tues. – Sun. 10:00 A.M. – 6:00 P.M.
The convent was established at the end of the sixteenth century. It is characterized by its large and peaceful rooms where valuable paintings of the Lima, Cusco, and QuitoSchools are preserved.