The South American Tour

by Annie S. Peck

An important private collection of ancient furniture, carved and inlaid with artistic merit, is the property of Dr. Javier Prado y Ugarteche, Minister of Foreign Relations in the administration of President Leguia, and Dean of the School of Law; another is that of Don Carlos Watson.

For evening entertainment there are several theaters, the Politeama, seating 2000, El Olimpo, smaller, the Chinese, and the New Municipal Theater seating 2000.

If disposed to take a morning stroll, one may walk along Huallaga street past the side of the Cathedral until he comes, after four blocks, to the largest of the four market buildings. This, called the Mercado de la Concepción, occupies a whole square. In the second block from the Plaza on the right hand side is an unpretentious drug store of Estremadoyro where for 5 centavos may be purchased a small envelope of Persian powder, very useful for the fleas. Elsewhere two or three times as much must be paid for the same quantity in less convenient form. At the end of this block is the fine building of the Bank of Peru and London. Other banks of various nationalities of Europe will be observed, but none of the United States. However, the House of W. R. Grace, which will be found by turning to the right at the end of the first block, a little way down on the left, will serve the purpose if one takes a draft on their house, when letters may be sent in their care. Continuing on Huallaga past the Bank of Peru and London, the interior of which is worth looking at, though you have no especial business within, you come to the fine Market with little shops and cafés along the front and sides. Within the large hall is a great display of fruits, flowers, vegetables, meat, butter, eggs, etc.; everything at very reasonable prices except the last two. Flowers may be had for a song, a bunch of roses for 20 centavos, 10 cents; not American Beauties to be sure, but old-fashioned tea roses and others of various colors, fresh and sweet. Tuberoses, mignonette, heliotrope, and other garden flowers are there in profusion. How one would rejoice at such opportunities in any of our cities! Twenty, a hundred such markets are needed in Manhattan alone. Luscious fruit of various kinds is always plentiful, most of it cheap. Two squares beyond the market one would come to what is now called Plaza Raimondi. Facing this is a great building for the Police Quarters, and just before that, one for the Society of Mining Engineers. In this Plaza the numerous Italian residents of Lima have recently erected a monument to the famous Italian engineer, Antonio Raimondi, who for many weary years wandered over the great territory of Peru, investigating its mineral resources, and making topographic observations which he embodied in a series of maps on a very large scale. Though not perfect in every detail, they are remarkably accurate in view of the difficulties under which he labored. One intending to make exploration in the interior should provide himself with Raimondi maps of the sections to be visited, these being on sale at two soles each at the large book stores in Lima. Crossing the Plaza to calle de Junín, the Church and Hospital of Santa Ana are on the right. Turning at Junín to the left, back towards the Plaza de Armas, at the next corner will be found the Casa de Moneda or Mint. This is not always open to the public but may be visited on one or two afternoons of the week, as may be ascertained by inquiry. The gold and silver coins here made are of the finest workmanship and of high-grade metal. The Numismatical Museum of the Mint contains a splendid collection of medals from all parts of the world, as well as copies of all those coined from the time of Independence to the present.

At the next corner on the left is the Church of St. Thomas and beyond that on the cross street is the Prison and the Correctional School for Women. On the following corner of Junín, at the right is the Church of Caridad, Charity, facing the Plaza of the Inquisición. Turning here to the right we find in construction the new building for both Houses of Congress, while keeping straight ahead with the pretty garden on the right we should observe the handsome Doric portico of the building long used as the Senate Chamber, formerly occupied by the Tribunals of the Inquisition, which even on our Western Continent sought to stifle free thought. The Indians, luckily, were excused from its kindly ministrations, the only charity at that time extended to them. The ceiling of fine carved mahogany inspires admiration for its excellent workmanship of native skill. A mahogany table now used for writing the laws of the nation was formerly in service for drawing up the decrees of death. A noticeable feature of this Plaza is an equestrian Statue in bronze of the liberator, Bolívar. Sculptured on the pedestal of white marble are bas-reliefs representing the battles of Junín and of Ayacucho. In spite of the thin atmosphere at a height equal to that of the top of Pike’s Peak, there was severe and gallant fighting on both sides.

One may return from here to the Plaza by calle Junín, or going one block to the right and then to the left may pass the Church and Plaza San Francisco. This imposing building contains in the sacristy a valuable collection of paintings; paneled ceilings with finely carved beams, and floor of blue tiles, in the cloisters; and carved stalls in the gallery. Following the car track to the left one soon returns to the Cathedral and Plaza.

Of the sixty-seven churches in Lima a few merit a visit. The most important are fortunately near the centre of the city. On the corner beyond the Post Office, as one goes from the Plaza, is the Church of Santo Domingo. The roof over the main entrance is spoken of as the richest and most elaborate work of art in Lima. In the floor of the first cloister the blue tilings laid in 1606 are noteworthy. The collection of paintings in the vestry includes a Murillo representing San Antonio, and a portrait of Santa Rosa by Matias Maestro. A celebrated chapel by Fray Martin de Porras contains a valuable collection of paintings by Roman Nicolette of the eighteenth century; fourteen works representing the twelve Apostles, St. Paul, and John the Baptist. Especially notable is a beautiful marble statue of Santa Rosa, standing on a silver pedestal which is studded with jewels. Santa Rosa, Isabel de Oliva, born in Peru in 1556, led a life so remarkable for its saintly purity that she was canonized by Pope Clement X, the only American ever distinguished by such an honor. She became patron saint of the whole of America, the West Indies, and the Philippines, her festival being celebrated August 30. Her remains repose in the church in the altar of Santa Rosa, on the base of which is portrayed in marble the scene of her deathbed. The church contains also a silver altar to Our Lady of the Rosary, a madonna with a rosary of large pearls, and relics of Fray Martin de Porras and others.

At the corner where the Church of St. Domingo is situated one may turn to the left, and after two blocks on the calle de Camaná he will reach the Church of St. Augustín where the stone façade in the baroco style, the choir, and the table of the vestry deserve attention. The organ is called the finest in Lima. The platform of the ancient chapter room, now the chapel of the college, and a painting of St. Augustín are of interest, but the distinguishing ornament of the church is a remarkable statue in wood representing Death, the work of a monk, Baltazar Gavilán, who it is said died from the shock of seeing it during an attack of delirium tremens. Twelve oil portraits on copper of the Disciples, by an unknown artist, are called excellent in drawing, conception, and coloring.

After one block more on Camaná, and then one to the left, the Church of La Merced is reached on the corner of La Union and Ayacucho. This large and fashionable church has a high altar the front of which is silver elaborately worked. There are good carvings on some of the side altars, and paintings of merit in the sacristy. Continuing two blocks along Ayacucho and one to the left, one reaches San Pedro, the church of the Jesuits, also fashionable. The wood carvings of the entrance doorway and of the massive altar are worth seeing, also its burnished gold scroll work, the tiled wainscoting, and the paintings and carvings in the sacristy.

These churches are best seen during the forenoon, as in the afternoon they are often closed. There is an Anglo-American Episcopal Church on the calle de Carabaya in the sixth block from the Maury, Pacae 226, where service is held Sunday mornings at ten, others at varying hours. The chaplain, Rev. Archibald Nicol, lives next door, Pacae 228. At Callao there is another Anglo-American Church, not Episcopal, with services in English at 10.30 a.m. and 8.00 p.m., calle Teatro 25.

At least half a day should be devoted to a visit to the Palace of the Exposition which may be reached by electric car, down the calle de la Union, or by the calle de Abancay three blocks from the Maury in the opposite direction, as well as by carriage. By the former route one passes the Municipal Theater on Union street, and beyond, the square in which the Penitentiary is located. This building is called a model and may be visited by interested persons who procure a permit from the proper official. The next square is a handsome shaded park called the Parque Colon. This contains a monument to President Manuel Candamo, which was unveiled Sept. 8, 1912. On the farther side of the park is a pretty building, the Institute of Hygiene, fitted up with laboratories of the latest pattern for the analysis of water, foods, etc.