Peru - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 789

and entertainers. The city's Catedral
(daily 8am-noon & 5-8pm; free), built
in the mid-seventeenth century and
then rebuilt the following century after
earthquake damage, sits in one corner
of the plaza. Beside the cathedral is its
museum (Mon-Fri 9am-1pm & 4-7pm,
Sat 9am-1pm; S4), which exhibits a
sombre range of mainly eighteenth- and
nineteenth-century religious paintings
and sculptures.
Also on the square at Jr. Pizarro 313
sits the Casa Urquiaga (Mon-Fri
9.30am-3pm; free), a colonial mansion
owned by the Peruvian Central Reserve,
which is worth a visit - despite the
rather rigid thirty-minute tour you have
to take - for its well-kept interiors and
historical importance. Simón Bolívar
stayed here while he organized his final
push for liberation.

Central museums
he Museo de Arqueología, Antropología
e Historia , at Jr. Junín 682 (Mon-Sat
9am-5pm, Sun 9am-noon; S5;
T

9

044 474 850), is housed in a colonial
mansion; among the highlights are
some beautiful anthropomorphic
ceramics. The entry fee includes a guide
(some speak English).
A short walk along the same street
brings you to the quirky Museo del
Juguete , at Jr. Junín 713 on the corner
with Jr. Independencia, upstairs
(Mon-Thurs & Sat 10am-6pm, Fri
10am-10pm, Sun 10am-1pm; S5;
T 044 208 181). This was South
America's first museum dedicated to
toys, and the few well-laid-out rooms are
crammed with antiques from all over the
world, including mini Routemaster buses
from the UK, Meccano sets and a large
doll collection. There's also a display of
toys belonging to pre-Hispanic cultures. East of Plaza Mayor

East of the plaza, on the corner of
Jr. Pizarro and Gamarra, stands
another of Trujillo's impressive mansions,
La Casa de la Emancipación , at Jr. Pizarro
610 (Mon-Fri 9am-1pm & 4-8pm;
free). The building is now head office
of the Banco Continental but hosts
contemporary art displays in its colonial
rooms, where the enormous windows
make for great people-watching.
Further down the same road, two
blocks east of the Plaza Mayor, is the
Palacio Iturreguí , at Jr. Pizarro 668
(Mon-Fri 10.30am-8pm; S5), a striking
mid-nineteenth-century mansion
whose highlight is a pseudo-Classical
courtyard, with tall columns and an
open roof. The courtyard is encircled by
superb galleries.
At the eastern end of Jr. Pizarro, five
blocks from the Plaza Mayor, there's
a small but attractive square known as
the Plazuela El Recreo where, under the
shade of some vast 130-year-old fig trees,
a number of bars and food stalls provide
a place to meet in the evenings for young
couples. The waterworks for colonial
Trujillo can be seen in the plaza, where
the Spaniards extended Moche and
Chimu irrigation channels to provide
running water to the city.

Museo de Arte Moderno
The substantial and beautiful Modern
Art Museum , at Avenida Villarreal just
after the crossroads with the carretera
Industrial (Mon-Sat 9am-5pm; S10),
was opened in 2006 by one of Peru's
most successful artists, Gerardo Chávez,
who lives next door (also the man behind
the Museo del Juguete). A world-class
gallery with colonial and postmodern
architecture set in lush grounds, the
permanent collection includes work by
Chávez, Klee and Giacometti, as well as
showcasing artists from all over the
Americas, and there's also a decent café
and shop. There's a tram service that runs
from the Museo del Juguete (from 9am;
two museum entrance fee package and
transport S25), otherwise your best bet
from the centre is via a taxi (S12), or
combi “B” from Avenida España, which
doesn't take you right to the door - hop
off at the crossroads mentioned above
and walk from there.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
By plane Flights arrive and depart from Carlos Martínez
de Penillos Airport, near Huanhuaco ( T 044 464 197).
LAN, at Jr. Almagro 490 on the Plaza Mayor ( T 0801 1234),
has three flights daily to Lima. Taxis into the city will cost