Inside Lima, Peru: The Cathedral‏

The Cathedral of Lima is located on the main square on the "Historical Center" in the city of Lima, which is the capital of Peru, and is almost next to the government palace, home of the President of Peru and where many important ceremonies take place.

Francisco Pizarro, one of the conquerors of Peru founded the city of Lima, which is called "The city of the kings" and ordered the construction of the Cathedral in 1535, which will be the most important church in the entire South America in the times of the Spanish Viceroyalty in South America. Its inaguration was on March 1540.

The great work in the Cathedral, specially the cover, altars, the vaults and drawers is highly praised and is recognized as the oldest architectural work in Lima. The cathedral has been renew many times, in part because the conquerors wanted to look every time more grand and superb, and in part because of the earthquakes that the city has suffer, so there is really a mix of different architectural elements that visitors can appreciate in the cathedral.

The cathedral has two huge towers of neoclassical style, and its internal vaulta are of evident gothic inspiration. Inside the cathedral there is a museum of religious art, where you can find just beautiful paints from the times of the colony, and also some sculptures.

In keeping with the majority of cathedrals the front facade has three large doorways. The main or central gateway is called the Portada del Perdón or the "door of forgiveness". There are also no less than 14 side doors; one of which opens on to Calle de Judíos (Street of the Jews) and another on to the Patio de los Naranjos (Square of the Oranges, connected to the Cathedral).

Even with all this beauty inside and the great art that you can appreciate in the catheral when you visit it on the day, you should also take some pictures from the outside at night because the lights are just beautiful and it almost looks as a fairy tale palace!!!