In front of you is the shrine of Peru's most massive devotion: the Lord of Miracles. It all began with a humble painting on a mud wall.

1A wall in Pachacamilla

In the mid-17th century this was the Pachacamilla district, home to Indigenous people and enslaved Africans. Around 1651, a man of Angolan origin painted Christ crucified on an adobe wall. Tradition calls him Pedro Dalcón, but his identity is not documented.

On 13 November 1655 a strong earthquake shook Lima and Callao. Many walls fell; the one with the painting stayed standing. Devotion grew so much that in 1671 the church authorities ordered the image to be erased. According to accounts of the time, the men sent to do it didn't dare, and the order was withdrawn.

2From 1687 to today

On 20 October 1687 another earthquake brought down the chapel, but the wall held firm again. An oil copy was then made, and it went out in procession for the first time. After the great earthquake of 1746 this church was built, opening in 1771, and the Nazarene nuns took charge of the image.

That the wall survived the earthquakes is documented; that it did so by miracle is a matter of faith. That's why, in Lima, October is the “purple month”.

3What to look for

  • The Baroque façade, with its tower to one side.
  • Vendors of turrón de Doña Pepa, the sweet linked to this devotion.
  • Purple habits, worn by many limeños if you come in October.

Documented

The image was painted around 1651 on a Pachacamilla wall that withstood the earthquakes of 1655 and 1687; the present church opened in 1771.

Oral tradition

The painter's name and the miraculous nature of the wall's survival belong to tradition and faith, not to the historical record.

Sources and credits

Brotherhood of the Lord of Miracles of Nazarenas; Rubén Vargas Ugarte, «Historia del Santo Cristo de los Milagros» (1949); María Rostworowski, «Pachacamac y el Señor de los Milagros» (1992).

Photos:

  • Baroque façade and tower of the Las Nazarenas church on Avenida Tacna: Pilar, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Spotted a mistake? Drop us a line and we’ll look into it.