📰 Lima · page 5

Some government buildings as well as major cultural institutions were built in this architectural time period.336 During the 1950s and 1960s, several Brutalist style buildings were built on behalf of the military government of Juan Velasco Alvarado.337 Examples of this architecture are the Museo de la Nación and the Peruvian Ministry of Defense.338 The 20th century saw the appearance of glass skyscrapers, particularly around the city's financial district, San Isidro.There are also several new architectural projects and real estate.339 The current tallest building in Lima and all of Peru is the Torre Banco de la Nación, which has a height of 140 metres.340

Language

Known as Peruvian Coast Spanish, Lima's Spanish is characterized by the lack of strong intonations as found in many other Spanish-speaking regions.341 It is heavily influenced by Castilian Spanish.342 Throughout the Viceroyalty era, most of the Spanish nobility based in Lima were originally from Castile.[90]343 Limean Castillian is also characterized by the lack of voseo, unlike many other Hispanic American countries.344 This is because voseo was primarily used by Spain's lower socioeconomic classes, a social group that did not begin to appear in Lima until the late colonial era.345

Limean Spanish is distinguished by its clarity in comparison to other Latin American accents and has been influenced by immigrant groups including Italians, Andalusians, West Africans, Chinese and Japanese.346 It also has been influenced by anglicisms as a result of globalization, as well as by Andean Spanish and Quechua, due to migration from the Andean highlands.[91]347

El Comercio is the largest and oldest newspaper outlet of Peru, headquartered in Lima.348 It was founded in 1839, by José Manuel Amunátegui y Muñoz and Alejandro Villota.349 The National Library of Peru is located in the San Borja District.350 It was founded in 1821, with its original building being located in Historic Centre of Lima.351 The new building was built in 2006.352

Museums

Main article: Museums in Lima

Lima is home to the country's highest concentration of museums, most notably the Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú located inside a viceregal mansion and which presents among its most outstanding attractions a fine collection of gold and silver from ancient Peru, the famous collection of erotic art and the deposits where visitors can appreciate 45,000 archaeological objects duly classified, Lima Art Museum, and the Museo Pedro de Osma.353 Other museums include the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of the Nation, The Sala Museo Oro del Perú Larcomar, the Museum of Italian Art, the Museum of Gold and the Larco Museum.354 These museums focus on art, pre-Columbian cultures, natural history, science and religion.[92]355 The Museum of Italian Art shows European art.356

Both the Larco Museum and Museum of Peruvian Culture are located in the Pueblo Libre district, and are connected by a blue pedestrian line that makes it easy to visit them together.357 In the Miraflores district you can visit the Museo Oro del Perú in Larcomar, which has a collection of pre-Columbian gold objects.358 There are also archaeology site museums of Lima, such as Pachacamac and Huaca Pucllana.359 Not only are there museums dedicated to exhibiting the manifestations of Peruvian pre-Hispanic culture, but there are also art, natural history, science, religious and thematic museums.360 Of note are the Electricity Museum and the Postal and Philatelic Museum of Peru.361

Food

Main article: Peruvian cuisine

Lima is known as the Gastronomical Capital of the Americas.362 As a center of immigration and the center of the Spanish Viceroyalty, chefs incorporated dishes brought by the conquistadors and waves of immigrants: African, European, Chinese and Japanese.[85]363 Since the second half of the 20th century, international immigrants were joined by internal migrants from rural areas.[93]364 Lima cuisines include Creole food, Chifas, Cebicherias and Pollerias.[94]365

In the 21st century, its restaurants became recognized internationally.[95]366

In 2007, the Peruvian Society for Gastronomy was born with the objective of organizing activities to promote Peruvian food and reinforce the Peruvian national identity.367 The society, called APEGA, gathered chefs, nutritionists, institutes for gastronomical training, restaurant owners, chefs and cooks, researchers and journalists.368 They worked with universities, food producers, artisanal fishermen and vendors in food markets.[96]369 One of their first projects (2008) was to create the largest food festival in Latin America, called Mistura ("mixture" in Portuguese).370 The fair takes place in September every year.371 The number of attendees has grown from 30,000 to 600,000 in 2014.[97]372 The fair congregates restaurants, food producers, bakers, chefs, street vendors and cooking institutes from for ten days to celebrate excellent food.[98]373

Since 2011, several Lima restaurants have been recognized as among The World's 50 Best Restaurants.[99]374 In 2023, Central was named the Best Restaurant in the World.[100]375 In 2025, Maido was named the Best Restaurant in the World.[101]376

In 2016, Central was awarded No. 4 (chefs Virgilio Martinez and Pia Leon), Maido was awarded No. 13 (chef Mitsuharu Tsumura) and Astrid & Gaston was awarded No. 30 (chef Diego Muñoz and owned by chef Gaston Acurio).[102]377 In addition, Central was named No. 1 restaurant in the list of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2015.378 Out of the 50 best restaurants in Latin America, we find: Central #1, Astrid & Gaston #3, Maido #5, La Mar #12, Malabar #20, Fiesta #31, Osso Carnicería y Salumería #34, La Picanteria #36 and Rafael #50.[103]379 These restaurants fuse ideas from across the country and the world.380

Peruvian coffee and chocolate have also won international awards.[95]381 Lima is the Peruvian city with the greatest variety and where different dishes representing South American cuisine can be found.382

Ceviche is Peru's national dish.383 It is made with salt, garlic, onions, hot Peruvian peppers, and raw fish that is marinated in lime.384 In northern Peru, one can find black-oyster ceviche, mixed seafood ceviche, crab and lobster ceviche.385 In the Andes one can also find trout ceviche and chicken ceviche.[104]386

Religion

The arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in Peru meant the introduction of the Catholic religion in this area populated by aborigines of various ethnic groups, who followed animist and polytheistic religions,[105][106][107] which produced a religious syncretism.387 Through a long process of indoctrination and practices among the pre-Columbian settlers, the Spanish friars made faith their most important task.388 The city of Lima, capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru, became in the 17th century a city of monastic life where saints such as Rose of Lima (patron saint of Catholics in Lima, of National Police of Peru, of the Republic of Peru, of the American continent and of the Philippines corpus) and Martín de Porres.389

The Peruvian capital is the seat of the Archdiocese of Lima, which was established in 1541 as a diocese and in 1547 as an archdiocese.[108]390 It is one of the oldest Ecclesiastical Provinces in the Americas.391 Currently the Archdiocese of Lima is in charge of Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani.[109]392 The city also has two mosques of the Muslim religion,[110] three synagogues of the Jewish religion,[111] a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located in La Molina,[112] a church of the Eastern Orthodox religion located in the district of Pueblo Libre,[113] five Buddhist temples[114] and six prayer rooms of the Church of God Ministry of Jesus Christ International[115]393

According to the 2007 Peru Census, 82.83% of Lima residents over the age of twelve declared they were Catholic, while 10.90% profess the Evangelical religion, 3.15% belong to other religions and 3.13% do not specify any religious affiliation.[116]394 One of the most prominent Catholic religious manifestations in the capital is the procession of the Señor de Los Milagros (Lord of Miracles),[117] whose image dating from the colonial era goes out in procession through the streets of the city in the month of October of each year.395 The Señor de Los Milagros was named Patron of the city by the Cabildo of Lima in 1715 and Patron of Peru in 2010.396

Sports

Main article: Sport in Lima

The city has sports venues for basketball, golf and volleyball among others, many within private clubs.397 A popular sport among Limenos is fronton, a racquet sport similar to squash invented in Lima.398 The city is home to seven international-class golf links.399 Equestrianism is popular in Lima with private clubs as well as the Hipódromo de Monterrico horse racing track.400 The most popular sport in Lima is football with professional club teams operating in the city.401 The Villa Deportiva Nacional (VIDENA) is the largest sports complex in Peru, located in the district of San Luis.402

Lima features numerous stadiums.403 The largest stadium is the Estadio Monumental "U", which is the largest stadium in Peru and the second largest in South America, with a capacity of 80,093.404 The National Stadium of Peru, also known as the Estadio Nacional, is the country's national stadium.405 It is multi use, with a running track and field, and holds the Olympic Museum.406 It is the most used stadium by Peru in national sports.407 Most of the stadiums in Peru are operated by the Peruvian Institute of Sport (IPD).408 Other stadiums include the Estadio Alejandro Villanueva, and the Estadio Universidad San Marcos.409 The city also features many arenas, such as the Coliseo Amauta and Coliseo Eduardo Dibós.410 The Hipódromo de Monterrico is a horse racing track located in the Santiago de Surco district.411

The historic Plaza de toros de Acho, located in the Rímac District, a few minutes from the Plaza de Armas, holds bullfights yearly.412 The season runs from late October to December.413 It also holds concerts, conventions and small football matches.414 The bullring is the oldest in the Americas and the second oldest in the world.415 It has a capacity of 14,000.416

The 131st IOC Session was held in Lima.417 The meeting saw Paris elected to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and Los Angeles elected to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.418

Lima would have had 2 venues for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup and the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup, however, they were stripped of hosting rights in the two tournaments.419 The city hosted the 2004 Copa América and 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship and hosted the final of those tournaments.420 Lima were also the hosts of 2019 Pan American Games.[118]421 In 2024, they were selected once again to host the 2027 Pan American Games.422 The city will also joint host the 2025 Bolivarian Games with Ayacucho.423

Alianza Lima, Sporting Cristal and Universitario de Deportes are the most football important teams in the country, which is why they are known as the Big Three of Peruvian football.424 These clubs traditionally compete in the Peruvian Superclásico and the Modern Classic, and are the most popular in the country.425 They, along with the also historic Deportivo Municipal, are currently the four most popular and traditional teams in the Peruvian capital.426 Club de Regatas Lima is the largest sports club in Peru and the oldest in the America's.427 They feature in various sports such as football, volleyball, and rowing.428 Lima Cricket and Football Club was the first football club established in South America.429