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Piquillacta
Meaning ‘the Place of the Flea,’ Piquillacta is the only major pre-Inca ruin in the area. Built around AD 1100 by the Wari culture, it’s a large ceremonial center of crumbling two-story buildings, all with entrances that are strategically located on the upper floor, surrounded by a
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Iglesia de las Nazarenas
One of Lima’s most storied churches was part of a 17th-century shantytown inhabited by former slaves. One of them painted an image of the Crucifixion on a wall here. It survived the devastating earthquake of 1655 and a church was built around it (the painting serves as the centerpi
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Santuario Nacional Lagunas de Mejía
About 6km southeast of Mejía along an unbroken line of beaches is this 690-hectare sanctuary protects coastal lagoons that are the largest permanent lakes in 1500km of desert coastline. They attract more than 200 species of coastal and migratory birds, best seen in the very early m
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Museo Arqueológico
This small, university-run museum is worth visiting; just knock on the door to enter. Its varied ceramics collection includes a few examples of pots from the Cajamarca culture and an unusual collection of ceremonial spears, also from the same period. The Cajamarca culture, which ex
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Iglesia de San Blas
This simple adobe church is comparatively small, but you can’t help but be awed by the baroque, gold-leaf principal altar. The exquisitely carved pulpit, made from a single tree trunk, has been called the finest example of colonial wood carving in the Americas. Legend claims that i
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Temple of Kotosh
This temple ruin is also known as the Temple of the Crossed Hands because of the life-sized mud molding of a pair of crossed hands, which is the site’s highlight. The molding dates to about 2000 BC and is now at Lima’s Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología e Historía del Perú
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Casa de Urquiaga
Owned and maintained by Banco Central de la Reserva del Perú since 1972, this beautiful colonial mansion’s history dates to 1604, though the original house was completely destroyed in the earthquake of 1619. Rebuilt and dramatically preserved since, it now houses exquisite period f
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Palpa Lines
Like Nazca, Palpa is surrounded by perplexing geoglyphs, the so-called Palpa Lines, which are serially overshadowed by the more famous, but less abundant, Nazca Lines to the south. The Palpa Lines display a greater profusion of human forms including the Familia Real de Paracas, a g
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Reserva Nacional Tambopata
The Río Tambopata is a major tributary of the Río Madre de Dios, joining it at Puerto Maldonado. Boats go up the river, past several good lodges, and into the Reserva Nacional Tambopata , an important protected area divided into the reserve itself and the zona de amortiguamiento (b
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Paramonga
The adobe temple of Paramonga is situated 4km beyond the turnoff for the Huaraz road and was built by the Chimú culture, which was the ruling power on the north coast before it was conquered by the Incas. The fine details of the massive temple have long been eroded, yet the multi-t
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Cerro San Cristóbal
This 409m-high hill to the northeast of Lima Centro has a mirador (lookout) at its crown, with views of Lima stretching off to the Pacific (in winter expect to see nothing but fog). From the Plaza de Armas, taxis can take you to the summit (from S16) or you can wait for the Urbanit
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San Lucas de Pomacochas Interpretation Center
Fifteen minutes west on the road to Pedro Ruíz, the San Lucas de Pomacochas interpretation center maintains feeders on a 31-acre private reserve that attracts this and many other hummingbirds; the views over the valley and the plunging road from here are also spectacular. The cente
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Cajamarquilla
A pre-Columbian site, Cajamarquilla is a crumbling adobe city that was built up by the Wari culture (AD 700–1100) on the site of a settlement originally developed by the Lima culture. A road to the left from Lima at about Km 10 (18km from Central Lima) goes to the Cajamarquilla zin
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Yanahuara
The peaceful neighborhood of Yanahuara makes a diverting excursion from the city center. Its within walking distance: go west on Av Puente Grau over the Puente Grau bridge, and continue on Av Ejército for half a dozen blocks. Turn right on Av Lima and walk five blocks to a small pl
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Jesuit Church
Andahuaylillas is more than 45km south-east of Cuzco, about 7km before the road splits at Urcos. This pretty Andean village is most famous for its lavishly decorated Jesuit church , which is almost oppressive in its baroque embellishments. The church dates from the 17th century and
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Patahuasi
The only civilization between Arequipa and Chivay, save for a few scattered farmsteads, is this fork in the road that acts as a kind of truck/bus stop and fill-up point (buses head southeast for Puno every hour). A few snack shacks pepper the scruffy byway while a kilometer or so b
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Coca Museum
Tiny and quirky, this museum offers lots of interesting information – historical, medicinal, cultural – about the coca plant and its many uses. Presentation isn’t that interesting, though: reams of text (in English only) are stuck to the wall and interspersed with photographs and o
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Museo de la Nación
At the time of research, this museum was closed but may reopen soon; check iPerú for updates. In a brutalist concrete tower, it provides a cursory overview of Peru’s civilizations, from Chavín stone carvings and the knotted-rope quipus (used for record-keeping) of the Incas to colo
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Fortaleza del Real Felipe
In the 1820s, the Spanish royalists made their last stand during the battle for independence at this historic fort, which was built in 1747 to guard against pirates. It still houses a small military contingent. Visits are by guided tours in Spanish only. On the western flank of the
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Islas Uros
Just 5km east of Puno, these unique floating islands are Lake Titicaca’s top tourist attraction. They’re built using the buoyant totora reeds that grow abundantly in the shallows of the lake. The lives of the Uros people are interwoven with these reeds, which are partially edible (
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