Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Iglesia San Francisco, Museo Afroperuano, and Congreso de la Republica


Today is a rather full day of activities. After El Sol, we would rendezvous at Avenida Benavidas – a cross street of Grimaldo del Solar. Our bus would pick us up from there to take us to Lima’s Capitol building – El Congreso de la Republica. The dialogue was shaping up nicely. We got to visit so many different places in Lima and I’d have to say this was pretty nice. We got to see where political meetings would take place and where government officials discussed political actions. It was overall a very cool experience. We would spend about an hour here until we made our way to our next stop at the Museo Afroperuano.





The Museo Afroperuano is a museum dedicated to the African Peruvian culture that has manifested itself all over Peru and has played vital roles in building the society in which Peru lives in today. Centuries ago, when the Spaniards came to Peru they had brought over African slaves on boats to conduct labor such as to grow crops and build homes. However, African slaves were not only seen as tools, but were treated fairly humanely as well. It wasn’t until the Spaniards abandoned the land they conquered that the Africans would set foot freely around Peru to carve out their own paths as Afro Peruvians. From then, the Africans were able to instill their culture and influence across the country in forms of art, dance, and food.  It was a small museum with a brief, but interesting and valuable history of Peru.

Our next stop was the Iglesia San Francisco – an old church that housed eerie catacombs. The catacombs were discovered in 1943 in which thousands of skulls and bones were found. The church was used a burial ground for thousands of people until the city cemetery was opened in Lima. It was definitely a site to see if you are ever around the Ancash region on Lima.




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