The South American Tour

by Annie S. Peck

The chief part of the city is on the left or south bank of the Rimac River, by the side of which runs the Central Railway from Callao up to Oroya; the main station of Lima, Desemparados, being one block from the Plaza. As is customary, a pretty garden with flowers, trees, and shrubbery occupies a large part of the square, which has besides the usual band stand a bronze fountain in the center, no doubt the oldest in America, as it was presented to the city in 1578.

PORTALES AND MUNICIPAL BUILDING

CALLE JUNÍN—INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT LEGUIA

The great Cathedral, on the southeast side of the Square, built of gray stone with two towers, is the earliest and largest in South America. Although the Spanish invaders manifested little of the spirit of the Christ they professed to worship, they were ardent supporters of what they regarded as the true faith and were eager to establish everywhere the rites of their religion. Thus Francisco Pizarro, the cruel and perfidious conqueror, had no sooner selected the site of the city designed to be his capital, and drawn a plan of the streets and plazas than he himself laid the corner stone of the church, January 18, 1535. The first structure, though five years in building, was naturally of no grand proportions. But Lima soon becoming a metropolitan see with an archbishop, it was deemed fitting to build a great Cathedral. With interruptions and changes of design it was 1625 before the splendid edifice was finished and consecrated. This done the bones of Pizarro were transferred thither, where they still remain. After a little more than a century this building was laid in ruins by the earthquake which in 1746 destroyed Callao; it was then reconstructed on the same site, though with less magnificence than before. The Cathedral has five naves, and ten chapels along the sides. In the Chapel of the Virgin on the left is a celebrated image, a gift from the Emperor Charles V, and under a glass case the remains of the Conqueror Pizarro, though their genuineness is a matter of dispute. The view in the central nave is imposing. The choir, said to be unequaled in America and seen to best advantage only on feast days when the high altar is illuminated, is distinguished by reason of the beautiful carving of the mahogany and cedar; the pulpit also shows handsome chiseling. In front is a Crucifix of ivory presented by Philip II, a valuable work of art. The solid silver altar and candlesticks are noteworthy. The unusually fine organ was made in Belgium. In the Chapel Arcediano, the Archdeacon’s, which was founded in 1600 by Don Juan Velasquez de Obando and dedicated to Santo Goribio and other sainted Limanians, is an original painting by Murillo representing Jesus and Veronica, presented to the church by Señor Luna Pizarro. In the chapel of St. Bartholomew are paintings of a celebrated artist, Mateo Alexio, who visited Lima near the close of the sixteenth century and who is here buried. On a sidewall is the most famous work of a noted artist, Matias Maestro, called the Consecration of the Cathedral, the gift of Señor Ocampo in 1625. In the chapel, La Purissima, of especially rich construction, is the sepulcher of Señor Morcillo with his statue by a distinguished Peruvian sculptor, Señor Baltazar Gavilán. Here too are fine ivory carvings representing the apostles, presented by the Lima theologian, Dr. Feliciano de la Vega, who at his death in 1640 was Archbishop of Mexico. In the passage way connecting the church with the sacristy may be seen on the right a painting of the various saints native to Lima, by Matias Maestro. On the wall of the right gallery of the church, a painting by Lepiani represents Christ in Prayer. In the sacristy are portraits of all the Archbishops, a copy of a Rembrandt, some relics of the Inquisition, and a font of unusual style. By the side of the Cathedral is the residence of the archbishop, never suitably restored, and in its dilapidated condition marring the beauty of the Plaza.

On the northeast side of the Plaza is the historic residence of the Viceroys, now the Government Palace. Of the old colonial building, the scene of many gay and brilliant festivities in the days of great general wealth and viceregal splendor, nothing remains but the chapel with a handsome ceiling and with walls adorned with sixteenth century tiles reminding of Moorish art. No longer used for worship it is a store-house for archives. Around the several patios are suites used as offices of the various departments of government. Here may be found the Minister of Foreign Relations, the Minister of Justice and Education, etc.: also the apartment occupied by the President as his residence and for his offices. In the State dining-room banquets are occasionally given to distinguished guests, as to Secretary Root. During the Sessions of Congress, the President usually entertains at dinner the Members, seriatim, holding an informal reception after the dinner. The present occupant of the Presidential quarters, His Excellency Don Guillermo Billinghurst, a gentleman of English ancestry speaking fluently that language, was installed for a four-year term, not subject to re-election, September 24, 1912.

Although the main entrance to the patio of the palace is guarded by soldiers, an ordinary person is permitted to pass from the Plaza unquestioned. Commonly quiet and peaceful, on a day in May, 1909, there was here a scene of confusion and bloodshed. By a simultaneous attack made at each of the three entrances, the guards were overpowered and many of them slain, the rooms of the President were invaded, his secretary was murdered, and he himself was seized and carried to the street. Surrounded by horsemen he was dragged first one way then another, at length to the Plaza de la Inquisición, where with a revolver at his head demand was made that he should sign an abdication. This, President Leguia with much courage resolutely refused to do. After being two hours in the hands of his enemies he was rescued, safe and sound, by soldiers who, firing upon his captors, succeeded in taking prisoner most of the ringleaders. Two years later they were tried and convicted: but to avert a probable insurrection they were immediately pardoned, when they were welcomed by the populace as heroes instead of the criminals they were. When such men seek to gratify their personal ambition at the cost of their country’s welfare, for which the first requisite is peace and steady constitutional government, if they received severe punishment and reprobation rather than honor, the attempts would cease and stable prosperity would be assured. An interview with the President, if especially desired may perhaps be secured through the United States Minister. His office and residence are in a garden called Quinta Heeren in the block Carmen Alto of the street Junín, which passes the front of the palace. The streets, it should be said, have many names, a different one for each block; but in addition to these local appellations, which are very confusing to strangers, they have names belonging to their entire length, so that the block names may sometimes be dispensed with.

On the northwest corner of the Plaza is the Municipal Building or City Hall, containing the office of the Mayor, in Lima termed the Alcalde. Here in 1906 Secretary Root was received by Mayor Elguera and the Town Council before going to the Palace to pay his respects to the President. The hall and municipal offices are above stairs, the street floor being occupied by shops of various kinds. Half a block from this corner, down the calle de Lima, a continuation of Junín, is the Post Office, where notices are posted of the opening and closing of mails in connection with the arrival and departure of steamers, and of trains to the interior. Postage stamps may be procured on the right and letters registered. On the left, letters are mailed in different slots according to where they are going, hence care should be exercised. After regular closing time double postage will secure the dispatch of letters for an hour or two longer. With fast mails to Panama but once a week, it is important to be in season. There are letter boxes also in the hotels and on the streets, from which collections are made by carriers. The northwest and southwest sides of the Plaza, on which are the portales, are equally interesting in their way. Here are shops of great variety, displaying large assortments of goods, besides venders under the arches with wares spread on the floor. The walks are generally thronged with people, for along here are also clubs and restaurants, the latter already referred to. The Clubs occupy apartments above the portales. The Union, at the corner opposite the French and English Hotel, has a series of handsome rooms where balls and banquets are occasionally given in honor of distinguished strangers and residents.

The streets of Lima are narrow, with the electric cars running so close to the curb that one needs to be rather careful, especially as the sidewalks are narrow also. Fortunately most of the buildings have but one or two stories, though a few of the later erections have three. Apart from the Plaza, the principal street for shopping is the calle de la Union, which passes across the Plaza in front of the Municipal Building. In the first two or three blocks from the Plaza there are drug stores, photographers, jewelry and book stores, shops of millinery and dry goods, etc., as on all the cross streets near. The fruit-sellers with little baskets of strawberries on long poles, the milkmaids perched high on mules or horses with great cans on each side, the ladies in manta, the close fitting black shawl, or the mantilla of lace, or in the latest Parisian modes, the cholos in plainer garb, the soldiers, the policemen ever blowing their whistles, the newsboys and news women, the sellers of lottery tickets, the fine private equipages, carriages and automobiles, and many many other things present variety sufficient to make an aimless stroll of continual interest. A glance into the open doorways away from the busiest streets usually reveals a paved court, sometimes with flowering plants or small trees, mayhap a fountain, and around the court the main rooms of the dwelling. A gem of typical colonial architecture, the old historic dwelling on the calle del Ucayali, a block from the Maury, should by all means be visited. It was the property of the Marquis de Torre Tagle and still belongs to his descendant, Señor Ortis de Ceballos, to whom is due its excellent condition. The massive stone doors, staircase, galleries, barred doors and windows, and the balconies both on the street and around the patio, present fine examples of the carving of that period. These may be examined by all. A wonderful collection of paintings in the possession of the family is not always on view. Inquiry as to the possibility of seeing it may be made by those who are especially interested. This extraordinary assemblage of more than eight hundred paintings of the classic schools contains works of Michael Angelo, Raphael, Titian, Correggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Rubens, Poussin, Velasquez, Murillo, and others.