San Francisco Monastery Lima

The Basilica and Convent of San Francisco was completed in 1674 and survived the 1687 and 1746 earthquakes that flattened much of colonial Lima, which is why it is one of the most complete seventeenth-century complexes in the city. The tour covers the cloisters, lined with Sevillian azulejo tiles and paintings, a refectory, a series of canvases of the life of Saint Francis attributed to the workshop of Rubens, and the library - a two-storey room with a carved mudéjar dome and around twenty-five thousand volumes, some incunabula. Underneath are the catacombs, the burial vaults used until the early nineteenth century, where an estimated twenty-five thousand people were interred; bones were later sorted by type and arranged in ossuary pits, and the arrangement of femurs and skulls in geometric patterns is what most people remember. The passages are narrow and low.

What you actually see

• The library - a carved mudéjar dome over around twenty-five thousand volumes.
• The catacombs - burial vaults with bones sorted and arranged in ossuary pits.
• The cloisters - Sevillian tilework and colonial painting cycles.
• The survival - a complete seventeenth-century complex through two great earthquakes.

When to go

Year-round. One to two hours. Entry is by guided tour only, in Spanish or English, leaving at intervals - arrive early in the day to avoid waits.

Honest expectations

Only guided access; you cannot wander. The catacombs are narrow, low, dark and unsuitable for anyone claustrophobic. Photography is prohibited in most of the complex. Queues build in the middle of the day.

Nearby

The Plaza Mayor is west; Santo Domingo is a few blocks north-west.