Plaza Mayor (Main Square)

You're standing on the exact spot where Spanish Lima began. On 18 January 1535, Francisco Pizarro founded the City of Kings here and had the rollo, the pillar where justice was carried out, raised in the middle.

1A chessboard city

Pizarro and his men laid out the streets in a grid, like a chessboard, starting from this square. He kept the whole north side for his own house; plots on the other sides went to the church and the town council. That division is still visible today: where Pizarro lived stands the Government Palace; where the first church stood, the cathedral; opposite, the City Hall.

In viceregal times the square was a market, a bullring and a place of execution. The Inquisition held its autos-da-fé here too. And here, on 28 July 1821, General San Martín proclaimed the independence of Peru.

2Rebuilt in the 20th century

Although it looks colonial, much of what you see is recent. The current Government Palace was finished in 1938, the Municipal Palace in 1944, and the arcades on the south side were standardised around 1940 in neo-colonial style. The cathedral has a longer story: its towers were completed in 1797.

The bronze fountain in the centre is the oldest piece in the square: it dates from the mid-17th century.

3What to look for

• The fountain, crowned by a figure blowing a trumpet.
• The enclosed balconies of the Archbishop's Palace, next to the cathedral.
• The Government Palace, once Pizarro's house, where the guard changes.