The figure of the city of Lima approaches to that of a semicircle, having the river Rima for its diameter; it is two miles long from east to west, and one and a quarter broad from the bridge to the wall; it is chiefly divided into squares, the length of each side being 130 yards; but in some parts approaching to the wall this regularity is not preserved; all the streets are straight, and they are generally about 25 feet wide; the place contains 157 quadras, being either squares or parallelograms, with a few diagonal intersections towards the extremities of the city. The wall which encloses Lima, except on the side bordering on the river, is built of adobes, sun-dried bricks, each brick being twenty inches long, fourteen broad and four thick; they are made of clay, and contain a very At the south east extremity of the city is a small citadel called Santa Catalina; in it are the artillery barracks, the military depÔt, and the armoury. It is walled round and defended by two bastions, having small pieces of artillery. The bridge leading from the city to the suburb called San Lazaro is of stone; it has five circular arches, and piers projecting on each side; those to the east are triangular next the stream, and those on the opposite side are circular; on the tops are stone seats, to which a number of fashionable people resort and chat away the summer evenings. From eight to eleven o'clock, or even later, it is remarkably pleasant, both on account of the quantity of people passing to and fro, and from the river being at this season full of water. On the east side the water falls from an elevated stone base about five feet high, and forms a species of cascade, the sound of the falling water adding much to the pleasure enjoyed during the cool evenings of a tropical climate. At the south end of the bridge is a stone arch, crowned with small turrets and stucco, having a clock and dial in the centre; the whole was built and finished by the order of the Viceroy Marquis of Montes Claros, in the year 1613. The general aspect of the houses in Lima is novel to an Englishman on his first arrival; those of the inferior classes have but one floor, and none exceed two; the low houses have a mean appearance, too, from their having no windows in front. If the front be on a line with the street they have only a door, and if they have a small court-yard, patio, a large heavy door opens into the street. Some of the houses of the richer classes have simply the ground floor, but there is a patio before the house, and the entrance from the street is through a heavy-arched doorway, with a coach house on one side; over this is a small room with a balcony and trellis windows opening to the street. Part of these houses have neat green balconies in front, but very few of the windows are glazed. Having capacious patios, large doors and ornamented trellis windows, beside painted porticos and walls, with neat corridors, their appearance from the street is exceedingly handsome. In some there is a prospect of a garden through the small glazed folding doors of two or three apartments; this garden is either real or painted, and contributes very much to enliven the scenery. The patios, in summer, have large awnings drawn over them, Of the principal churches the fronts are elegant and the steeples more numerous and more elevated than might be expected in a country so subject to earthquakes as Peru. The architecture displayed in the faÇades of these churches is more worthy of being called a peculiar composite than any regular order; but in a great many instances this peculiarity is pleasing: a particular description of them will be given in the course of this work. The outer walls of the houses are generally built of adobes as far as the first floor, and the division walls are always formed of canes, plastered over on each side; this is called quincha: the upper story is made first of a frame-work of wood; canes are afterwards nailed or lashed with leather thongs on each side the frame-work; they are then plastered over, and the walls are called bajareque. These additions so considerably increase their bulk, that they seem to be composed of very solid materials, both with respect to the thickness which they exhibit, Some of the churches have their principal walls and pillars of stone; others of adobes and bajareque; the towers are generally of the latter work, bound together with large beams of Guayaquil wood; the spires are commonly of wood work, cased over with planks, and painted in imitation of stone; with mouldings, cornices and other ornaments, either of wood or stucco. In large buildings of every description there is generally a great proportion of timber, keeping up a connection from the foundation to the roof; thus there is less danger from the shocks of earthquakes than if they were built of brick or more solid materials; for the whole building yields to the motion, and the foundation being combined with the roof and other parts, the whole moves at the same time, and is not so easily thrown down. I suggested to a friend in Lima the idea of placing between every tenth layer of adobes one of long canes; this he put in practice, and afterwards informed me, that it was considered a great improvement, so much so, that he thought the plan would be generally adopted, especially as it produced a saving of timber, which is a dear article; had also the effect of preventing the walls from cracking by the shocks of earthquakes, and was equal to that of rafters of wood or frame-work and bajareque. The city is divided into four parishes, the Sagrario, with three rectors; Saint Ann, two; Saint Sebastian, two; Saint Marcelo, one. Here are two chapels of ease, that of Saint Salvador in the parish of Saint Ann, and that of the Orphans in the parish of the Sagrario. Over the bridge are the suburbs of Saint Lazaro, with one rector, a curate at the Cabesas and another at Carabaillo, five leagues from the city, beside several chapels on the different plantations. In the Cercado there is a parish of indians, founded by the Jesuits, and formerly under their care. The convents are numerous. I shall first give a list of them, and afterwards mention those that are individually worthy of notice.
The nunneries in Lima are La Encarnacion, La Concepcion, Santa Catalina, Santa Clara, Las Trinitarias, El Carmen Alto, Santa Teresa, or Carmen Baxo, Descalsos de San Jose, Capuchinas de Jesus Maria, Nasarenas, Mercedarias, Santa Rosa, Trinitarias descalsas. El Praso, and Nuestra SeÑora de Copacavana for indian ladies. The following are beaterios, houses of seclusians, which do not take the monastic vows: Santa Rosa de Viterbo, Nuestra SeÑora del Patrocinio, San Jose for women divorced from their husbands, and the Recogidas for poor women, somewhat similar to the Magdalen Hospital in London. Each of these religious houses has a church or chapel, making in the whole as follows:—
Besides these each hospital has a chapel; many of the convents also have chapels attached to them: San Francisco has that of Los Dolores and El Milagro, and several of the principal inhabitants have private oratories, there being altogether upwards of one hundred places of worship, supporting more than eight hundred secular and regular priests, and about three hundred nuns, with a great number of lay brothers and sisters. Lima has the following hospitals, each appropriated to some peculiar charity:— San Andres, for Spaniards and maniacs—Santa Ana, for indians—San Bartolome, for negroes and African castes—San Pedro, for poor ecclesiastics—El Espiritu Santo, for seamen—San Pedro Alcantara, for females—La Caridad, for females—Bethlemitas, for females, opposite the convent—San Lazaro, for lepers; in addition to the three already mentioned. The Colleges in Lima are:—Santo Toribio, an ecclesiastical seminary—San Martin, afterwards San Carlos, now San Martin again, for secular studies—Colegio del Principe, for Latin grammar and the sons of indian caciques, besides the conventual colleges, where many of the lower classes are taught Latin, and some branches of science, gratis, by the friars. The plasa mayor, principal square, stands nearly in the centre of the city (the suburbs of San Lazaro being included) about 150 yards from the bridge; on the north side stands the Viceroy's palace, having an ornamented gateway in the centre, where the horse guards are stationed; this front is 480 feet long: the lower part is divided into petty pedlars' shops, filled with all kinds of wares, open in front, the doors which enclose them being thrown back; so that those of one shop meet those of two neighbouring ones, and all of them are generally adorned with part of the stock in trade, hung on them for sale. Over these runs a long gallery, with seats rising one above another, for the accommodation of the inhabitants when there is any fÉte in the square; on the top there is a railing, carved in imitation of balustrades. At the north-west corner is a gallery for the family of the Viceroy, which on days of ceremony was fitted up with green velvet hangings, ornamented with gold lace and fringe; a state chair to correspond being placed for his Excellency in the centre. It was here that the Viceroy Marquis de Castel-forte presented himself to witness the death of the innocent Fiscal Antequera, in 1726; here Lord Cochrane stood, when the independence of Lima was declared in 1821; and On the east side is the cathedral, having a light ornamented faÇade, with large folding doors in the centre and smaller ones on each side, surmounted by a handsome balustrade and two steeples, each of which contains a peal of fine-toned bells, a clock and dials. The entrance to this rich building is by a flight of steps, the area being ten feet above the level of the plasa. On the north side of the cathedral is the Sagrario, with a very beautiful faÇade; and adjoining stands the Archbishop's palace, which surpasses in appearance every other building in the square. Green balconies, glazed, run along the front, on each side of an arched gateway, which leads into the patio; but the lower part is disgraced with small shops, the nearest one to the Sagrario being a pulperia, grog shop! Under the area of the cathedral there is also a range of small shops, one of which formerly belonged to Don Ambrosio Higgins, who was a pedlar and failed. He afterwards went to Chile, entered the army, obtained promotion, discovered the city of Osorno, and was honoured with the title of Marquis of Osorno. In 1786 he returned to Lima in the high capacity of Viceroy, and found his old friend and brother pedlar, La Reguera, On the south side is a row of private houses, having a balcony and trellis windows: over the piazza, which is ten feet broad, the pillars are of stone; a row of mercers' and drapers' shops occupies the piazza, and between the pillars are stationed a number of men, principally indians, employed in making fringe, silk buttons, epauletts, &c.; hence it is called, el portal de botoneros. In the middle of this piazza is el callejon de petateros, remarkable as being the site of Pizarro's palace, and where he was murdered. The west side is similar to the south, and at the north end of it is the casa consistorial, corporation house; under it is the city gaol, in front of which is the council hall, which has on one side the door a canopy over the royal arms. Under this the alcaldes formerly stood to administer justice. Here it was that, some years ago, the young Viscount de San Donas sentenced the coachman of Judge NuÑes to receive a hundred lashes for carrying prohibited arms: the man was tied to an ass, and the hangman, In the centre of the square is a beautiful brass fountain, erected by the Viceroy Count de Salvatierra in 1653. The basin is very capacious: in the middle rises a brass column twenty two feet high, on the top of which is a small cupola supported by four pillars; the whole is surmounted by a figure of Fame. Through the trumpet water is ejected; but the greater portion rises within the dome, after which it falls into a large basin, from thence into another of In this square the principal market is held, and one of the greatest luxuries which the eye can witness is enjoyed by visiting it about five or six o'clock in the morning, when the articles for sale are just brought in. It is divided into several compartments by rows of large pebbles, which are placed merely to limit the venders, The poultry market is divided, one place being set apart for the live, and another for the dead. Poultry is almost always dear; a turkey costs from three to five dollars; a fowl from one to two dollars; ducks, Muscovy, the same price; pigeons half a dollar each; geese are seldom seen in the market, for as the natives never eat them, very few are bred. Here is also a market for all kinds of pulse—beans of several descriptions, peas, lentils, maize of five or six kinds, gurbansos, quinua, &c. The vegetable market contains every description of horticultural produce known in England, as well as the arracacha, yuca, casava root, camote, sweet potatoe, yam, oca, &c. The vegetables are remarkably fine, in great abundance, and generally cheap. The fruit market is splendid, furnishing the most delicious fruits of Europe—the grape of several varieties, the peach, apricot and nectarine, the apple, the pear, the pomegranate, the quince, the tomate, and the strawberry; and an abundance of luscious tropical fruits—the pine, the melon, badeas, granadillas, sapote, lucuma, nisperos, guavas, paltas, The interior of the Viceroy's palace is very To the right of this hall there is a narrow corridor, looking into a small garden on the right, having a suite of rooms on the left, which on days of ceremony were used as assembly rooms; there are also some closets, which may serve as sleeping rooms or studies, each having a small glazed balcony next the street. Two young British officers, belonging to the Briton, were one night detected by the sentry attempting to pay a visit, at one of those commodious The palace also contained the royal treasury, the courts of the royal audience, the Viceroy's chapel, the county gaol, the secretary's offices, and some others belonging to the attendants. Each front of the palace was disgraced with mean pedlars' and shoemakers' shops, and close to the principal entrance was a pulperia, common grog shop, for the accommodation, I suppose, of the coachmen, footmen and soldiers on duty. The north and south sides of this building are four hundred and eighty feet long; the others four hundred and ten. The interior of the archbishop's palace is but small; a flight of steps opposite the entrance The interior of the Sagrario, which may be called the principal parish church, or matrix, is more splendid than rich; the roof is beautifully pannelled, having a cupola in the centre, resting on the four corners formed by the intersection of the cross aisle; it is lofty, and the several altars are splendidly carved, varnished and gilt. Great part of the high altar is cased with silver; the sacrarium is highly finished, and the custodium of gold, richly ornamented with diamonds and other precious stones. The whole service is costly, both in plate and robes. The baptismal font is in a small chapel on one side; it is large, and covered with a thick casing of pure silver. The cathedral, like all others, is spoiled by having the choir in the centre, blocking up the view of the high altar, which otherwise would present a most majestic appearance from the The lateral altars are placed in niches between the buttresses, having ornamented gates before them, which, when opened inwards, form the presbytery. Some of these altars are rich, but none of them handsome. At the back of the high altar is a chapel dedicated to Saint Francisco Xavier, in which there are effigies of two archbishops, in white marble, kneeling before reclinatories. In this chapel was the archbishops' burying vault, which is now closed, and they, in common with all other people, are carried to the pantheon, where the first corpse interred was that of Archbishop La Reguera, being exhumed for the purpose. The throne, or high altar, has a most On grand festivals this church presents an imposing coup d'oeil; the high altar is illuminated with more than a thousand wax The gold and silver brocades, tissues and other stuffs, the laces and embroidery for robes, vestments and decorations, are of the most costly kind that can be procured. The sacred vessels, chalices, patenas, hostiarias, &c. are often of gold, enriched with a profusion of the rarest gems, so that nothing can display more grandeur than is beheld here on great festivals, when divine service is performed with a pomp scarcely to be imagined. At the east end are two doors, corresponding with the two lateral doors in the front, and producing a fine effect. The area is spacious, and paved with freestone on the west, south, and east sides of this building, and the surrounding wall is surmounted by an ornamental palisade. The corporation hall, sala consistorial, on the north-west side of the plasa, or square, offers nothing worthy of notice; it is a large room, containing benches for the members of the cavildo, a state chair and canopy for the president, some plans of the city hanging on the walls, and a closet for the archives. FOOTNOTE: |