We can consider that the whole of Peru is an open-air museum. This country is only very rich in millenary history and culture, that is, all the archeology found and preserved there is an interesting collection to be appreciated. Peruvian museums are also excellent places to learn more about these cultures, a precious material to research to understand some of the roots of South America.
In the capital of Peru, the tourist attractions most sought after by history buffs are museums, where interesting well-preserved collections of pre-Columbian cultures are presented. Those who love the arts can also delight in Lima‘s galleries, admiring various Peruvian artistic movements.
Do you want to have a very cultural plan in Lima? Visit the many galleries and museums on a fascinating Peruvian cultural history tour. In this article we are going to list 10 impressive museums in Lima for you to visit when you are there:
1|Museo Larco
This is one of the most important museums in Peru, in the Pueblo Libre district, founded by researcher Rafael Larco, a scholar of archeology who has gathered a very rich collection on the history of his country. The entire museum portrays the history of Peruvian territory between pre-Hispanic history and colonial times, years 8000 BC and 1532 AD.
The museum’s collection has about 45,000 rare works and pieces displayed in chronological ways, faithfully telling the history of Peru. In the exhibition, it is possible to observe textile, ceramic, and metal archaeological items. It still has many pieces of jewelry, war artifacts, and tools. Lima is the destination that you cannot miss on your itinerary.
2|Museo de Arte de Lima – MALI
The MALI building alone is an imposing neo-Renaissance work of art. This museum proposes to merge the works exhibited there, in separate rooms in archaeological articles and contemporary arts.
There is space for permanent exhibitions, where there are artifacts in silver, gold, ceramics, wood, and textiles from pre-Columbian art until the 20th century. And also, modern and contemporary works in photographs and paintings in Costumbrismo, which in general, are temporary exhibitions.
3|Museo Pedro de Osma
This museum preserves objects from the Peruvian viceroyalty, which took place between the 16th and 18th centuries, and is part of the private collection of the Peruvian politician, Pedro de Osma Gildemeister.
There, sculptures, altarpieces, paintings, stone carvings, and silverware from the Andean traditions of Cusco and Ayacucho are displayed. There is also another very rich collection but different from Catholic origins in paintings and sculptures.
4|Mario Testino Museum – MATE
This is a young museum, opened in 2012 by the famous photographer Mario Testino, to be non-profit and fully dedicated to contemporary arts. Mario Testino has already photographed the famous covers of GQ, Vanity Fair, and Vogue; and had great celebrities like Madonna and members of the English Royal Family in front of their cameras.
Even our model Gisele Bundchen. In addition to Testino’s photographs, there are exhibitions of contemporary Peruvian arts and traveling exhibitions by diverse artists from around the world.
5|National Museum of Archeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru
Considered the oldest museum in Lima, this is also called the National Museum which conserves more than 300 thousand pieces of pre-Columbian civilizations in Peru. There are war, funerary, religious, and decorative objects, as well as mummies, stone sculptures, clothing, furniture, and artifacts from the Inca era.
There is also extensive documentation related to José de San Martin and Simón Bolivar who is part not only of the history of Peru but of South America.
6|Museum of the Central Bank of the Reserve of Peru
It is a museum with very diverse collections of the history of Peruvian arts. Its collection contains archaeological pieces from pre-Inca and Inca civilizations, with items in metal, jewelry, ceramics, fabrics, and stone sculptures, where everyday scenes, characters, symbolisms, and beliefs from past ages were marked.
This museum also houses paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries, where there are scenes, portraits, and landscapes in abstract and even contemporary compositions by Peruvian artists.
7|Peruvian Gold Museum
The collector of gold and silver pieces, Gabriel Mujica Gallo gathered a vast collection of ancient Andean cultures, mainly Incas. In this museum are pieces from Inca antiquity such as ceramic vases, silver trays and utensils, tools, funerary masks, and weapons.
In another section are various weapons such as rifles, swords, and carbines from the period of Spanish domination.
8|Amano Museum
This museum was created by a sympathizer of Peruvian culture, the Japanese businessman Yoshitaro Amano, hence the name of the space that houses exhibitions, mostly of textile articles – there are more than 460 pieces – separated into four rooms in chronological order.
Thus, the journey begins with the first civilizations in Peruvian history such as the Chávin, Paracas, Nazca, Mochica, Lambayeque, Chancay, Chimú, Huari, Chuquibamba, and Inca cultures, showing how the textile process of each one was. It goes through the eras of creating tools that helped in the making of garments and tapestries, from spinning, dyeing, and fiber selection.
9|Nicolini Collection Automobile Museum
This is the only car museum in Peru, in which old and classic vehicles with models manufactured between 1901 and 1992 are displayed. In this space, old cars are welcome for restoration and exhibition in the museum.
There you can find Chevrolet, Ford, Cadillac, and Rolls-Royce, among others, in addition to the exhibition of two rare cars, one of the Stutz brand, from 1928; and another from 1915, by the Wanderer brand.
10|Museum of Natural History
This place is the most important museum of Natural History in Peru, located in the district of Jesus Maria in Lima, and was established in 1918 by Carlos Rospigliosi, a UNMSM professor. The first expedition of recollection was made for the founder, of the Junin and Huanuco.
A museum is a perfect option not only for scientists but also for all age groups, where is possible to contemplate fossils of prehistoric and contemporary animals, plants, and minerals. The most outstanding from here are the Livyatan Melvillei fossils, Purussaurus, and Carnotaurus head.
Bonus
Located in Jiron Carabaya, next to Lima’s Plaza de Armas, the “Museo del Pisco”, where is possible to taste the largest collection of beverages, pisco cocktails, and the famous “Pisco Sour”. Why don’t try it with some “tequeños” or “Ceviche”?
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