Santo Domingo Convent Lima

Santo Domingo was among the first religious foundations of Lima, granted to the Dominicans in 1535, and its cloisters carry some of the oldest Sevillian tilework in the city, dating from the 1600s. Its importance to Peruvians is devotional: the remains of Santa Rosa de Lima, the first person born in the Americas to be canonised, and of San Martín de Porres, the mixed-race lay brother who became a saint and is venerated across Latin America, are both kept here, along with those of San Juan Macías, in a chapel where people queue to pray. The university that became San Marcos, the oldest in the Americas, was founded in the convent's chapter room in 1551. The complex includes a church with a rococo interior, a bell tower that can be climbed for a view over central Lima, and a garden cloister.

What you actually see

• The tombs - Santa Rosa, San Martín de Porres and San Juan Macías.
• The tilework - seventeenth-century Sevillian azulejos in the cloisters.
• The university origin - the chapter room where San Marcos was founded in 1551.
• The tower - a climb to a view over the colonial centre.

When to go

Year-round. One hour. Late August brings the Santa Rosa festival, when the church is extremely busy with pilgrims.

Honest expectations

The saints' chapel is a place of active devotion, not a display - people are praying, and quiet is expected. The tower stair is steep and narrow. Photography is restricted in parts. Hours differ between church and convent.

Nearby

The Plaza Mayor is south-east; San Francisco is a few blocks away.