Things to do in Peru, Peru: The Best History Museums

MUSEO LARCO OPENS FROM 9AM TO 10PM, DAILY. The Museo Larco is housed in an exquisite 18th century vice-royal mansion, built over a 7th century pre-Columbian pyramid and surrounded by beautiful gardens. The museum’s galleries exhibit the finest and most magnificent gold and jewelry treasures from Ancient Peru and the renowned erotic collection, one of Peru’s most celebrated attractions. Founded in 1926 and located in Lima, the Museo Larco holds the largest and most important archaeological collection of Ancient Peru in the world. Peru is known worldwide thanks to the legendary Inca Empire on the Andes Mountains; however few are aware that this society existed only for the last 100 years before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores. The Museo Larco portrays to the visitor an engaging narrative, recounting 5000 years in the development of Peru’s pre-Columbian history; thus becoming the ideal means to understand and enjoy Ancient Peru. On the Museum’s terraces overlooking its vibrant and stunning gardens, find Museo Larco´s Café restaurant, where one can savour the best of Peruvian and International cuisine.All in all, it’s accurate to say that to become fascinated by Peruvian history, the journey begins at Museo Larco!

This church and monastery of St. Francis (circa 1674) is known for its catacombs that contain the remains of more than 70,000 people and a magnificent library that houses thousands of antique texts.

This museum features the private collection of Mr. Yoshitaro Amano, which contains selected pieces of ceramics and textiles, arranged chronologically to illustrate the development of weaving throughout Peru's pre-Columbian cultures, featuring special items from the Chancay culture.

This museum’s main attraction is Juanita, whose ritually sacrificed and frozen body was unearthed in a volcanic explosion. This young girl’s miraculously preserved DNA has provided priceless insight into the Inca civilization.

The museum focuses on the daily lives of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine: their spiritual practices, their teachings and duties, the training of novices, and their everyday tasks. Among the objects which form part of the collection are extraordinary works in the fields of painting, sculpture and the decorative arts from the viceroyalty and republican periods, as well as exquisite examples of liturgical vestments embroidered by the nuns, and works of religious folk art. The museum houses a particularly famous series of early 19th century mural paintings which adorns the Chapter House. The convent was built during the early 17th century on the site of the old Inca Akllawasi, or “house of the chosen women”. Vestiges of the pre-Hispanic structure can be seen to this day among the outer walls of the convent.

The Museum of Pre-Columbian Art - MAP Cusco is an experience that allows you to discover the mystical art of ancient Peru. It houses and exhibits admirable objects for its history and aesthetics, created by women and men of the Andes, more than three thousand years ago until the sixteenth century, in the territory where Peru is located nowadays. The 400 pieces exhibited in the MAP Cusco, located in the historic Casona Cabrera, a few blocks from the Plaza de Armas, are part of the collection of the Larco Museum, considered one of the best 20 museums in the world. The MAP Cusco, managed by the BBVA Foundation, offers the possibility of exploring its ten rooms with audio guides in three languages: Spanish, English and French. The narratives will bring the visitor closer to the worldview that defined the beliefs of the ancient Peruvians. The visitor can also enjoy MAP Café tasting the incomparable flavor of Peruvian cuisine in a magical and peaceful setting.

The Santa Teresa y San Jose’s Carmelitas Descalzas’s Monastery, from Arequipa, was founded in 1710, and since then remains in life, hosting a Community of Contemplative Nuns. In its more than 300 years of existence, the Monastery has been treasuring paintings, sculptures, furniture, metalwork, decorative arts, textiles, beautiful murals and objects of daily use from different periods, origins and artistic styles. In 2005, the Community of nuns decided to open a part of the monastery as Museum of Viceregal Art, exhibiting hundreds of objects of its valuable collection in 13 spaces of the old Cloister of the Offices. The Museum is thematic in most of its Exhibition Halls and is also a living museum, since several of the objects and environments are still used as they were more than 3 centuries ago.