Museo Arqueologico Rafael Larcois Herrera

The museum is the largest private collection of Peruvian art - 45,000 pieces of Pre-Columbian. Rafael Larco Hoyle was a sugar cane baron. The museum is built over an ancient pyramid.
I have added photos of a Chimu warrior - as seen in Chan Chan. Several Moche pieces of pottery - the mountain giving life to people and a prisoner (always shown naked with a rope around his neck).

Cafe Museo and Museo Arqueologico Rafael larco Herrera

We had a lovely lunch on the patio of the Herrea Museum - a privately held collection of artifacts from all Peruvian cultures.

The landscaping was beautiful with buganvillas, cactus and many other plants.

Le Cathedral - Lima

The Cathedral was started in 1535. The remains (except his head??) of Francesco Pizarro - the conqueror of Peru- is inside the chapel with his name. The chapel is splendid with its gold moasics and paintings.

Most of the interior is in the Baroque style.

Changing of the Guard: Palacio del Gobierno - President's Home

The Changing of the Guard is a very elaborate ceremony. The military band plays several songs. Then the new guards come out with a step I have never seen. A goose step forward then a step to the side - could not get a great photo through the fence. An armed military presence insured crowd cooperation. The President's home is on the Plaza Mayor in center city Lima.

Police presence in Peru

We have seen a lot of police and security presence in most of Peru! (Except not in Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu).

Armored cars, uzzi's, guards, crowd control, etc.

San Francisco Church and Catacombs

We toured the San Francisco church and convent in downtown Lima. Originally constructed in 1557 - but damaged and rebuilt after earthquakes.

The yellow front is 17th century Baroque and blue tiles from Seville Spain are found inside. Moorish influence is seen throughout the church.

One important feature is the catacombs were started as a cemetery in 1546. As many as 75,000 people were buried. The bones have been separated and the skulls are in a huge pit. .....

Historic Center - Lima Peru

June 16, 2010 Our whole group is together - Darrell and Elaine, Lanny Scholes, Dave and Kathleen Roberts (Naples FL & Cincinnati OH and retired P & G) and Dave's brother Rick and Phyllis Roberts from Laguna Hills, CA!

The start the the adventure!!

City tour - to Plaza Mayor - anchored by the Cathedral, the President's Mansion, colonial houses with huge wooden balconies and a huge plaza.

The city has placed big screen tv in the plaza to carry futball (soccer) World Cup games - the crowd goes wild when their team scores. Every restaurant and shop has been tuned to World Cup - its a fever!!

Witches Market and Guinea Pigs

The most famous delicacy of food in Peru is the guinea pig "Cuy". It is eaten on special holidays - we saw many being grilled through the country - but we did not try it.

The Witches market is in the Mercado Modela in Chiclayo. Many of the people use witchdoctoers and healers - curanderos and brujos! Many of the needed supplies are found in a special section in the market.

Our guide Miguel tells us he has never been to a medical docter - only healers. He also told us that a guinea pig is rubbed over his body to absorb evil and then used by the witchdocter to determine what is wrong.

Lord of Sipan - continued

Showing a few more pieces of the gold - plectoral, idol.

Many were buried inside the tomb in addition to the king. A Moche priest, 3 female concubines, a dog, 2 llamas, a child, a guard and many pieces of pottery etc...

Also at the end of the exhibit are lifesize manequins that are dressed in costume that move and play music. Corny - but cool!!

June 15 2010

Lord of Sipan - The Gold

I have taken the liberty of posting photos from google images because (technically) no photos are allowed in the museum - so I followed the rules!

The craftsmanship is amazing and the pieces are absolutely beautiful. The historical significance of finding such an impressive intact tomb is also important.

http://www.tumbasreales.org/

This is the link to the museum. Pull it up in Google and it will translate to English. I won't try to describe everything - but the total presentation is amazing.

Gold and turquoise earrings (note the huge post that went inside a hole in the earlobe.

The gold and silver peanut necklace! Sources say it is the cocoa pod - who in their right mind would make gold peanuts! The gold represents the sun and the silver the moon. Many other beautiful pieces!!!!

Lord of Sipan - Museum

The Lord of Sipan was the inspiration for our trip to the Northern Coast of Peru. I wanted to see the gold!! And there is a lot to be found in the Mueseum: Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipan.

What the Spanish didn't take - the looters did - and sold on black market! An amazing discover of an undisturbed tomb of a king of the Moche culture. He was buried 1700 years ago. The museum is shaped like a pyramid and you enter at the top and proceed down to a recreation of the actual tomb. The original artifacts are housed in the museum. It is a treasure.

Archeaology Magazine has named this find one of the most important in the 20th century. The gold is astonishing.

Carob Tree

Carob is one of the few trees growing in the desert regions of Peru. It's wood is very dry and strong. Many pieces have been found in archeaology sites. It is usually found along side a river or stream.

The source of all the rivers in the desert of Peru is the Andes Mountains. The ancient civilizations developed aqueducts systems thousands of years ago for farming and to allow for cities to spring up in the desert.

Tecume - archeaology site

Tecume - the Valley of the Pyramids: is locaated in the plains of Lambayeque outside Chiclayo Peru. There were 26 pyramids - all made of adobe bricks - in the religious complex. The pyramids were built starting around 1000 AD by the Chimu culture. They were used also for burials. Many have been looted over the years and gazing out from the lookout post - you could see the pockmarked earth.

The largest Pyramid -Huaca Largo stretches is almost 3000 feet long. Finds at the site indicate a great knowledge of astronomy. Also - Dr. Thor Heyerdahl found evidence of a pre Columbian maritime culture.

The Chimu culture was overtaken by the Inca around 1450. One of the reasons we wanted to visit the Northern Coast was to learn about the ancient cultures of Peru. Peru is famous for the Inca but the Inca was actually a more recent culture. The foundations of civilization in Peru go back 10,000 plus years in the Pre-ceramic culture.

Tecume - Valley of the Pyramids and Dr. Thor Heyerdahl

June 15, 2010 - We are still in the Northern Coastal area of Peru. We are visiting Tecume - The Valley of the Pyramids.

A small museum is on site with information about complex.

Shaman and healers are very important in the Highlands regions of Peru as well as in the North. We had hoped to go to the "witches market" but time did not allow. The local market in Chiclayo has a section for the healers.

Thor Heyerdahl wrote the book Kontiki. He was an archeaologiest at Tecume for many (89 - 94) years. His theory was that the people in Peru are descendants from a Polynesian island civilization that crossed the Pacific on boats to settle in the America's. Kontiki chronciles his successful crossing in 1947 from Peru to the Polynesian Islands on a balsawood craft A section of the museum highlights his theory and work.

Gran Hotel Chiclayo

After a grueling bus ride - we were happy to be in downtown Chiclayo. The streets were full of people. Our hotel was near the city center. June 14, 2010

Public Bus in Peru

We actually road the public bus from Trujillo to Chiclayo in the Northern Coast area of Peru. About 4 hours! The bus was packed with people and stuff - but no chickens! We saw much of the countryside -farms and little towns. Life is hard in the desert.

Casa Urquiaga - Trujillo Plaza de Armas

We toured one of the restored Colonial home in Trujillo. The Casa Urquiaga (Casa Cologne) is located on the Plaza des Armes and has a beautiful royal blue color. Note the iron work grilles on the windows.

Simon Bolivar lived here for 2 years. The house dates back to before 1604. Many period pieces of furniture are in place. There are 3 interior courtyards.

Local banks have purchased several these colonial homes and have offices inside in addition to restoring many of the rooms. June 14, 2010

Huanchaco - surfing scene

The northern coast of Peru is noted for it's "Big Waves". Surfers flock to the area in certain seasons. We only saw a few people surfing - but it looked like fun!