Well, we should have been in Lima by now. I’m very glad that we’re not there now. But in good news, it looks like Nan, whose blog I have been following at Le Chou Fou is finally making it home to America. She hopes.
But let’s pretend that we are there in a non-coronavirus world. No doubt I would be keen to see the Plaza Mayor. All Spanish-founded cities have a very similar ‘old centre’ because in 1523 King Charles I of Spain mandated the Procedures for the creation of cities in the New World with a square plaza, surrounded by a grid. As with other such plazas, it was originally called the Plaza de Armas and it had a church, and a government building. Apparently, if there was an attack, this square would be the place of refuge, and guns would be supplied from here.
The Plaza Major (Plaza de Armas) in Lima was founded by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro on January 18, 1535. It has a cathedral, a government palace, the archbishop’s palace, the municipal palace….you get the picture.
Apparently Pizarro himself carried the first log for the construction of the Cathedral on his shoulders. The first Cathedral was a rather primitive, adobe building and it was rebuilt several times due to earthquakes. Pizarro’s tomb is in the Cathedral today.
When Peru proclaimed its independence in 1821 , Jose de San Martin paraded around the plaza with the new flag. Before then, the square had been used for executions, a bull ring and as the site for the Inquisition.
Actually, a lot of the buildings in the plaza are quite recent, built to replicate colonial buildings. The Archbishop’s Palace of Lima was completed in 1922, the Government Palace was finished in 1938 and the Municipal Palace was completed in 1944. I feel cheated.
Let me check out the Archbishops Palace.
And let’s go into the Government Palace.
There’s lots of changing of the guard and marching around. (Don’t bother watching the whole 3 minutes. Nothing happens)
Wow. It looks very deserted and shut-down now. (The man is saying that they should have shut down earlier).
Perhaps I’m better off at home. I don’t like the look of those guns.
The Resident Judge of Port Phillip 