Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
By the cathedral's main door is the
mosaic -covered chapel
with the remains of
Pizarro. Their authenticity came into question in 1977, after workers cleaning out a crypt
discovered several bodies and a sealed lead box containing a skull that bore the inscrip-
tion, 'Here is the head of the gentleman Marquis Don Francisco Pizarro, who found and
conquered the kingdom of Peru…' After a battery of tests in the 1980s, a US forensic sci-
entist concluded that the body previously on display was of an unknown official and that
the brutally stabbed and headless body from the crypt was Pizarro's. Head and body were
reunited and transferred to the chapel, where you can also view the inscribed lead box.
Guide services in Spanish, English, French, Italian and Portuguese are available for an
additional fee.
