Legacy of the Incas
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Machu Picchu - Lake Titicaca
(11 days/10 nights)
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Machu Picchu - Lake Titicaca
(12 days/11 nights)
Empire of the Sun
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Machu Picchu - Lake Titicaca
(14 days/13 nights)
Ancient Civilizations of Peru
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Colca Canyon - Machu Picchu
Lake Titicaca
(16 days/15 nights)
Archaeological & Ecological
Treasures
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru & Ecuador:
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
Lake Titicaca (or Amazon)
(18 days/17 nights)
Grand Tour of the Inca Empire
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Colca Canyon - Amazon
Machu Picchu- Lake Titicaca
(22 days/21 nights)
Ancient & Colonial Capitals
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Machu Picchu
(10 days/9 nights)
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru:
Machu Picchu
(13 days/12 nights)
Machu Picchu & Galapagos
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Peru & Ecuador:
Machu Picchu - Galapagos
(15 days/14 nights)
Galapagos & Machu Picchus
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Ecuador & Peru:
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
(18 days/17 nights)
Enchanted Isles of the Galapagos
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Ecuador:
Galapagos
(11 days/10 nights)
Galapagos & the Kingdom of Quito
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Ecuador:
Galapagos - Andes
(16 days/15 nights)
Galapagos & the Amazon
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Ecuador:
Galapagos - Amazon
(16 days/15 nights)
Historic Haciendas of the Andes
Machu Picchu Luxury Tours
Ecuador:
Cotopaxi - Antisana - Otavalo
(7 days/6 nights)
© 2013 Inka's Empire Corporation.
All rights reserved.
Quipu, Ica culture, c. 1200-1300 AD, Museo Amano, Lima.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Lima Tours & Travel.
Inka's Empire Tours
considers essential the Gold of Peru Museum; the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History; the Rafael Larco Herrera Archaeological Museum; and the Pachacamac archaeological site
Excursions to these museums appear in Lima: 3 Nights. Other museums of note are the Museo Amano, which displays Chancay objects of the central coast and the Museo de Arte Colonial Pedro de Osma, which exhibits colonial art of the 17th-19th centuries. Details appear below. Please confirm directly with each museum for its current days and hours of operation.
Mochica gold figure with sacrifical knife and head, Gold Museum of Peru, Lima.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Lima Tours & Travel.
Gold of Peru Museum
Av. Alonso de Molina 1100, Monterrico, Surco.
435-0791Open every day from 12:00-19:00
At the privately-operated Gold of Peru Museum (Museo de Oro del Peru); gold, ceramic and textile masterpieces form the most magnificent collection of ancient Peruvian art in the world, treasures little-known and rarely exhibited outside the country. Objects include monumental necklaces, funerary masks, scepters, ceremonial cups, tumis (sacrificial knives), nose rings, earrings and idols, all fashioned of sumptuous gold and semi-precious stones. The downstairs vault features the gold artifacts. The second floor gallery contains marvelous ceramics and textiles and the annex gallery (behind the main building) features textiles and feather mantos of unbelievable quality.
A Paracas Necropolis "manto", c. 500 BC.
Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropologia e Historia del Peru.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Lima Tours & Travel.
National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History
Plaza Bolivar s/n [no street number], Pueblo Libre.
463-5070Open Tuesday to Sunday from 09:30-17:30
The National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History (Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropologia e Historia del Peru) exhibits evidence of all ancient cultures in the Peruvian civilization in a chronological and didactic way, the most interesting being the collections of Chavin, Paracas, Nazca, Mochica, Huari, Chimu and Inca. Masterpieces include the Raimondi Estele and the Tello Obelisco. Paintings, objects, documents and relics of the colony, emancipation, independence process and republican period are exhibited in the adjoining manor house, which was the residence of the viceroys Pezuela and La Serna and Peru's liberators Jose de San Martin and Simon Bolivar.
Mochica "huaco" depicting a reed boat, Museo Larco, Lima.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel.
Rafael Larco Herrera Archaeological Museum
Av. Bolivar 1515, Pueblo Libre.
461-1312Open Monday to Saturday from 09:00-13:00 and 15:00-18:00
The Rafael Larco Herrera Archaeological Museum (Museo Arqueolegico Rafael Larco Herrera), founded in 1926, is the world's largest private collection of pre-Columbian art; with an astonishing array of gold, silver, semi-precious stones and textiles. The collection's predominant strength is in Mochica ceramics, from the north coast of Peru, of which the erotic ones are the most famous. Their notariety ought not to obscure the fact that the museum presents a complete view of the cultural development of ancient Peru through a selection of its 45,000 pieces, housed in a colonial building of the 18th century.
House of the Virgins of the Sun, c. 1500 AD, Pachacamac.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Lima Tours & Travel.
Pachacamac Archaeological Site
Pachacamac is the most reknowned pre-Inca and Inca pilgrimage site of the coast. Dating back to 200 AD., it was originally devoted to the worship of the earth god Pachacamac: "he who sustains or gives life to the universe". Over the centuries, temples for other gods of the coastal cultures were erected throughout this immense ceremonial center. When the Incas arrived, they respected the religion of the conquered peoples but, at the same time, built their temple of the Sun and the Moon, and the Ajlla Huasi (House of the Virgins of the Sun).
Here, you will see the weathered adobe temples of Peru's ancient cultures, dominated by the Inca's temple of the Sun and the Moon, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Looking landward, observe one of the verdant oases that were home to ancient coastal civilizations. Such areas occur in river valleys in the vast desert along the coast. Visit the site museum, which features ceramics, textiles and a wooden idol found in the original temple of Pachacamac. Such idols infuriated the Spaniards, who had expected to find gold.
Museo Amano, Lima.
Photo: Mylene d'Auriol Stoessel. Luxury Lima Tours & Travel.
Museo Amano
Amano Museum
Calle Retiro 160, Miraflores.
441-2909Open Monday to Friday (prior appointment)
This private collection features cultural and archaeological artifacts from the central coast, such as unique Chancay textiles and pottery.
Museo de Arte Colonial Pedro de Osma
Pedro de Osma Colonial Art Museum
Av. Pedro de Osma 421, Barranco.
467-0915Open (by appointment)
This private collection of colonial art features silverware, paintings, sculptures and furniture from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Museo de la Nacion
National Museum
Av. Javier Prado Este 2465, San Borja.
476-9875Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00-17:30
This State-run archaeological and ethnographic museum exhibits permanent collections. It has a room for temporary exhibits devoted to contemporary art.
Museo de Arte de Lima
Lima Art Museum
Paseo Colon 125, Lima.
423-4732Open Tuesday to Sunday from 09:00-19:00
This private art museum exhibits pre-Hispanic objects and colonial, republican and modern art. The museum looks onto a park filled with contemporary sculptures, a cinema, library, a preservation and restoration center and classrooms where some 70 courses are taught daily (folk dancing, music, painting, arts and crafts, martial arts, public speaking and poetry, etc.).
Museo de Arte Popular del Instituto Riva Agüero de la Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru
Catholic University's Popular Art Museum at Riva Agüero Institute
Jr. Camana 459, Lima.
427-9275Open Monday to Friday from 13:00-20:00 and Saturdays from 09:00-13:00
This university-run museum houses a collection of ancient and modern folk art, including masks from every region of the country, carved gourds, Ayacucho and Cuzco pottery, and woven baskets from the North.
Museo Taurino de la Plaza de Acho
Plaza de Acho Bull Ring
Hualgayoc 332, Rimac.
482-3360Open Monday to Friday from 09:00-16:00
Semi State-run, this museum located at Latin America's oldest bullring features photographs, costumes, weapons and other implements used by bullfighters.
Museo del Banco Central de Reserva
Central Reserve Bank Museum
Jr. Ucayali 125, Lima.
427-6250Open Tuesday to Friday from 10:00-16:00 and Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00-12:45
This State museum houses an exhibition of nineteenth and twentieth century paintings in the old Central Bank vault, a complete collection of coins minted since the sixteenth century and pottery and metal objects crafted by the Vicus culture from the Seminario collection.
Museo de la Catedral de Lima
Lima Cathedral Museum
Plaza Mayor.
427-5980Open every day from 10:00-13:00 and from 15:00-18:00
The religious art museum in Lima's Cathedral, which overlooks the main square, houses paintings, wood carvings and religious objects from the Vice-Royalty. The museum houses the tomb of Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro.
Museo Numismatico del Banco Wiese
Banco Wiese Numismatic Museum
Jr. Cuzco 245, Lima.
428-6000 extension 2009Open Monday to Friday from 10:00-17:00
This museum, housed by a private bank in downtown Lima, exhibits a major coin and gold collection belonging to the Cohen family.
Museo de la Cultura Peruana
Museum of Peruvian Culture
Av. Alfonso Ugarte 650, Lima.
423-5892Open Monday to Saturday from 10:00-17:00
This State-run collection exhibits folk art dating from pre-Hispanic times to today.
Museo de Historia Natural Javier Prado de la Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
San Marcos University's Natural History Museum
Av. Arenales 1256, Jesus Maria.
471-0117Open Monday to Saturday from 09:00-13:00
One of the oldest universities on the continent, San Marcos houses a collection of Peruvian animals and medicinal and industrially-used plants. There is currently a collection of sea birds.
Other Museums
There are an additional 37 on-site, historical-archaeological, specialized and religious museums in Lima.
© 2013 Inka's Empire Corporation, Machu Picchu Luxury Tours. All rights reserved.
