Lima - Peru - page 119

57 LAC Dólar C4

58 Lima Tours C5

59 Municipal Tourist Office E2

Transport

60 Combis to La Punta A3

61 Cruz del Sur A4

62 Tepsa C6

CENTRAL LIMA
Bustling narrow streets are lined with ornate baroque churches in the city's historic and
commercial center, located on the south bank of the Río Rímac. Few colonial mansions
remain since many have been lost to expansion, earthquakes and the perennially moist
weather.

Plaza de Armas Area

Plaza de Armas
Offline map Google map
Lima's 140-sq-meter Plaza de Armas, also called the Plaza Mayor, was not only the heart
of the 16th-century settlement established by Francisco Pizarro, it was a center of the
Spaniards' continent-wide empire. Though not one original building remains, at the center
of the plaza is an impressive bronze fountain erected in 1650.
Surrounding the plaza are a number of significant public buildings: to the east resides
the Palacio Arzobispal Offline map Google map (Archbishop's Palace), built in 1924 in a
colonial style and boasting some of the most exquisite Moorish-style balconies in the city.
To the northeast is the block-long Palacio de Gobierno Offline map Google map , a grandi-
ose baroque-style building from 1937 that serves as the residence of Peru's president. Out
front stands a handsomely uniformed presidential guard (think French Foreign Legion, c
1900) that conducts a changing of the guard every day at noon - a ceremonious affair that
involves slow- motion goose-stepping and the sublime sounds of a brass band playing 'El
Cóndor Pasa' as a military march.
Though the palace is no longer regularly open to visitors, it hosts occasional public ex-
hibits, which require a 48-hour advance reservation. Check the website for a schedule and

PLAZA