When it was founded, in 1535, Lima was called the City of the Kings (la Ciudad de los Reyes). Nowadays, that same city is a metropolis of over 7 million people who proudly have managed to maintain its historic colonial center as a symbol of its ancient and noble traditions.

Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Center, due to the large number of artistic monuments found there, Historic Lima is an enchanting city that recalls periods already gone.

Lima's Cathedral, whose building began on the very day of the city's foundation; the Church and Convent of San Francisco, with its harmony of volume and color, and Santo Domingo, with its beautiful main cloister, are but a few of the invaluable treasures which provide evidence of Lima's deep religious faith.

Similarly, mansions such as the House of Aliaga ("Casa Aliaga"), the House of Goyeneche or Rada ("Casa Goyeneche or Rada"), with its French influences; and the Torre Tagle Palace ("Palacio de Torre Tagle"), the most beautiful of Lima's early 18th century mansions, all symbolize the splendor Lima had in the past.

Built between the banks of the River Rimac and the waters of the Pacific Ocean, Lima also offers to its visitors something that goes back to 400 AC: the great sanctuary of Pachacamac, where a god of the same name was worshipped, and the 'huaca' Pucllana, in the district of Miraflores, an important administrative center of the Lima culture of that period.