Iglesia de San Francisco

Last Sunday, I met Giovanna at Larcomar. We had been planning to visit the Calleo area, but weren't able to buy tickets in time. Instead, we walked up to Park Kennedy and set off to downtown Lima. We took the Metropolitano, and ended up in central Lima, close to where I had been the day before.

We wandered through central Lima, to the central market and to Street Capon in Chinatown. I've mentioned that there is a large Asian population in Lima, here's a bit more background. From about 1950 - 1975, 80,000 to 100,000 (I've heard both numbers) Chinese migrated to Peru to work on plantations and in railway construction, etc. The population stayed and integrated, and there is still a strong Chinese (and other Asian) population, a large portion of which has been here for a few generations. Street Capon is the center of 'Chinatown' in Lima.



Street Capon was surprisingly short, and after we wandered through it and back, we kept wandering until we arrived at the Church of Saint Francis (Iglesia de San Francisco). What a beautiful building!



The Church is still a functioning 'church', and a service was taking place inside. However, people were still wandering in and around the sides and taking pictures and watching, so we stepped inside. We didn't go too far in, as it seemed rather strange to be intruding as tourists on someone's Church service. The Church was originally built in 1674. Underneath the church are the catacombs.



Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed in the catacombs, and I abided by the rule. The catacombs is an extensive network of stone and mudbrick tunnels right underneath the main sanctuary of the church. There were several spots where you could look up through a grate and see people standing in the church service. One of the grated holes was an entrance point, as it had stairs leading down into the catacombs. They are unsure how deep the catacombs actually run, as it has not been fully excavated. There is also stories of hidden tunnels and pathways leading to other catacombs and under other churches. The catacombs were discovered in the 1950's and much of it was excavated, but it remains unhidden. I believe they stopped excavation for fear of causing the building to collapse if too much of the foundation was removed. They've confirmed that at least 25,000 people were buried under the church. In one area were deep pits (at least 5m deep), built of mud bricks and approximately the size of the coffin. Persons belonging to the church were buried in this area, one on top of another. When the area filled up, older bodies were removed, the bones thrown in a 10m deep well, and new people were buried. When we passed through, we could look down a few feet into the pits - the bones were sorted by type in each pit; archeologists used this sorting to determine the number of people.

It was fascinating to see the old structures, and to think of the number of people who passed through there, or who were left there as their final resting place. As always, I wish I could take a step back in time and observe the daily comings and goings of people there. What were they like? What did they wear? What did this place mean to them, and how far down into the earth does it really go? Are there secret tunnels? Did people hide here as well?

The tour also included half of the second floor of the church. On the other half, monks still live and work at the church. The second floor tour included the choir room, with a view down into the sanctuary, and the library. The choir room had dozens of fold down chairs, each with carvings on the head part of the chair, and on the front of the fold down, which would face the floor when folded down. Around the room were artful depictions of saints. In the center of the room was a massive and ornate stand. The guide told us that they put larger-than-life choir books on ledge of each side the stand, so the choir members could read the words from their seats. Following the choir room, we went to the library. It was incredible! We were only allowed about 10 feet in, the remainder was cordoned off and a guard was present. The library is world-famous, and if you have a specific reason and the right credentials, you can still access it. In the front were displayed the choir books, about two feet high and five feet wide (opened). They were clearly old and tattered, but large! The remainder of the shelves were covered in books. Latin books, Spanish books, English books; history books, philosophy books, religious books, language books. I think I could have sat right down and stared at it all for hours. Some of the books were centuries old. The furniture in the room was newer, but still decades old. The ceiling contained a large amount of glass in the center, allowing the room to be brightly, but indirectly lit. As the guide explained, electricity was unavailable, and with all the books - candles were not allowed. The amount of history and knowledge and culture that was contained in the room was incredible. Again, I wondered how much of their day they spent reading. Did they know all three languages and more? Was it part of their education? What knowledge they must have had of those before them and the ideas and thoughts and thinking of all the authors and contributors to those hundreds of books. The room was beautiful, both in decor and in its richness of history. The library was my favorite part.

After the tour, we wandered around downtown Lima for a bit, but Giovanna had to go meet some family. So we jumped in a cab and went back to Miraflores. I had a quick swim in the pool, and read a book for a relaxing evening.

Museos & Downtown Lima (Part 2)

The second floor of the museum was 'La Luz del Indigenismo', translating literally to 'The light of the Indigenous'. This floor contained dozens of photographs and sketches, depicting the lifestyle of the indigenous peoples of the area. I'm afraid by this floor I wasn't feeling very well at all, and didn't have quite so many deep and probing thoughts.




The final floor of the museum was the most difficult to view. It was a collection of photographs depicting the effects of the activities of 'The Shining Path'. The Shining Path group is an organization in Peru (now known as a terrorist group) started in 1960 by a professor of philosophy. The group grew until 1980 when they began to act publically using militant means. In 1992, the founder was captured and the majority of the conflict died down. However, it is still an active group in Peru. Due to the readership of this blog, I won't go into detail about the events that took place from 1980 - 1992, nor about the photographs at the museum. Suffice to say, it was heart-wrenching to see the photographs and read the captions; similar to visiting the Hiroshima memorial in Japan. The amount of pain, death, and destruction that human beings can cause always amazes me in the most terrible of ways.

After this museum, Reini headed home and Lisandro and I moved on to downtown Lima. I love the old buildings in the center of Lima. Even some of the homes and shopping streets have retained the look of decades and centuries ago.



The statue of a man on the horse is at the center of Plaza San Martin. Jose San Martin was a key person in the independance of South America from the Spanish. We continued walking and saw the Presidential Palace at Plaza Mayor. Beside the Presidential Palace was the Mayor's offices (the large yellow building). Outside the Presidential Palace, both inside and outside the gates, were guards. There I am, standing in front of the Palace. Unfortunately, my eyes were closed. But you get the idea.



Our last visit of the day was to the Museum of the Inquisition at Plaza Bolivar. The building was the site of the inquisition from 1570 - 1820. The inquisition was charged with finding and removing those guilty of heresy and blasphemy. The site was very interesting, including a room for eliciting responses and cells for holding prisioners. I wasn't feeling well at all, and missed most of the talk. It was very a very interesting building, though. After that I was visibly ill, so Lisandro and I jumped into a cab and I went straight home.

As I said, after some medicine and rest, I felt much better! I was glad, as I had planned to meet Giovanna the next morning.

Museos & Downtown Lima

I caught a taxi at 9:30am, and picked up Reini on the way to meet Lisandro at the Museo de la Nacion. Doris called the taxi for me - it is not safe to get into any taxi, and it is most safe to call a company that you have pre-registered with (something else I am not used to in Peru). I can't remember if I've explained who Reini and Lisandro are. Reini is the wife of an Australian engineer who has temporarily relocated here to work for the company. Lisandro is an instrumentation engineer in the office. Reini and I arrived at the Museo de la Nacion, and waited a
few minutes for Lisandro.



The museum has several floors, but only three were open to the public at that time. The first floor was a history of culture.



It was fascinating to see the variety of artistic styles, shapes, colors, and patterns. You could see the items evolving over time, more complex, different colors, representing different things. Some were in the shape of men, others animals, still others inhuman creatures, imagined beings.



It was interesting to see some of the things were items that are still commonplace today. A mortar and pestle, a collandar. I suppose we've come up with alternatives to a mortar and pestle, although many people still have them. But a collander... what a basic invention, figured out so many thousands of years ago, and something we will never be without. Fascinating!

These things were the necessities of life - to hold water, to cook and eat. Activities of life-giving necessity. But I don't believe any culture has been devoid of another necessity - that of pleasure. Jewelry and music, two more things that have certainly evolved over time, but still remain a necessary and highly prized part of every culture in existence today. Aside from providing pleasure in life, these things are distinct to various cultures and ways of life. The differences in them are what define one culture from another. And yet they still represent growth of technologies, skills, and capabilities of races and groups.

When I wasn't fascinated by the variety of items and styles, I marvelled at the intricacy of the items, or even the simplicity of them. Today, it is simple to make a clay pot or a suite of armor. I suppose I give us too much credit and those of the past not enough - after all, they pioneered in some way or another all the methods and technology we had today. But I still wonder - who first discovered that by pounding out a substance gathered from the ground, you could create something strong enough to protect yourself? Who learned how to mix ground substances and water and fashion it into a clay pot that survived until now? All these things we take for granted now must have taken so much more energy and thought to create initially, and for many centuries afterwards. But how did they dream up these things? Who would have thought to put two and two together and fashion some pipes together and blow across them, to make music?

I wish I had a time machine to travel back - just to observe - these moments of invention that so dramatically shaped our history and future.

It was interesting to observe the change in culture brought by the Spanish, when they first arrived and settled on this part of the continent. The most visible change (in the museum) was the altered religious beliefs. The Spanish brought with them Catholicism, and all the traditions and ideas it encompassed.