CuscoPeru.com

By Lee Klein

I first visited the Cathedral in Lima, Peru, in 1979, and saw the mummy of Francisco Pizarro. The mummy had been placed there back in 1891, when Peruvian officials, wanting to prominently display the “Founder of Lima,” had the body moved from the chapel in which it had lain for the previous 350 years.

But was this really Pizarro? Just prior to my visit, workers cleaning a crypt beneath the altar found two wooden boxes, one containing the bones of five people—one missing a head! The other box held a lead casket on which was inscribed in Spanish, “Here is the skull of the Marquis Don Francisco Pizarro, who discovered and won Peru and placed it under the crown of Castile.”

Francisco Pizarro died a violent death. On June 16,1541, while he was having dinner in his governor’s palace, a group of men, led by the son of his ex-partner, Diego de Almagro, broke in and stabbed him to death. As he lay dying from multiple sword wounds, he drew a cross on the ground in his own blood, kissing it, and crying “Jesus.” Continue reading

Lima Metropolitana

Lima is well-known because of being the gastronomic Capital of South America, due to the originality of its cuisine. It inherited the pre-Hispanic and colonial culinary excellences, as well as the contribution of the oriental and occidental

cuisine. On the one hand, fish and seafood are the base of one dish like the “tiradito” (a soft version of the ceviche but with yellow chicli cream or chili pepper without onion), “arroz con mariscos”, “el pescado a la chorrillana” (onions, segments of chili and fried tomatoes), “conchitas a la parmesana” (baked “conchas de abanico” served with parmesan cheese), “chorito a la chalaca” (boiled mussels served with lemon, onions, tomatoes, chili, chili pepper and parsley finely chopped) and “jalea mixta” (shellfish, octopus and fish pulled mixture) and other delicacies. Continue reading