Convento San Francisco
Monday, January 15
In the historic city center of Lima, in addition to the “Plaza de Armas” and the cathedral, there is another building that is definitely worth seeing. A few streets behind the Plaza de Armas is the Franciscan monastery (“Convento San Francisco”).
If you walk through the streets of the historic city center of Lima, you will immediately notice the beautiful facade of the monastery. The pale yellow color and the two striking towers stand out from the surrounding buildings. There is usually a long line of locals in the street in front of the monastery who are waiting in line to attend one of the services. The real insider tip, however, is not to attend a service, but to buy a ticket for a guided tour of the monastery!
Most tourists do not seem to know that the monastery offers daily tours in Spanish and even English, so a tour of the Convento San Francisco is one of the best cultural activities you can do in Lima. The tickets for the tour are very cheap and yet you get a full tour of the monastery, the church, the courtyard, the Spanish staircase and the monastery library. The most exciting part of the tour comes at the end though: the catacombs under the basilica. Here you are suddenly immersed in a completely different world and walk through the small underground passageways while you hear the organ playing quietly above you during the service. A real adventure! I have now done this tour twice and both times I was just amazed by this exciting place and would even do the tour a third time if I returned to Lima.
