Sanctuary of Saint Rose of Lima

In front of you is the place where Isabel Flores de Oliva, known to everyone as Saint Rose of Lima, was born and lived. She came into the world on 30 April 1586, daughter of an arquebusier of the viceroy's guard and a Lima-born criolla mother.

1A life of penance

Rose was never an enclosed nun: she lived as a Dominican tertiary in the family home, devoted to prayer, harsh penances and caring for the sick. She died on 24 August 1617, aged just 31. In 1671 Pope Clement X canonised her: she was the first saint born in the Americas and is patron of the continent and of the Philippines. The church you see was built in 1728 next to the house and altered in the 20th century when the avenue was opened.

2The hermitage and the well

In the garden stands a tiny adobe cell which, according to tradition, she built herself with her brother's help as a place to pray. Close by is the most famous well in Peru.

Tradition says Rose wore a chain with a padlock around her waist and threw the key into this well so she could never take it off. Every 30 August, her feast day, thousands of devotees queue to drop letters with their petitions into it.

The story of the key can't be proven, but the custom of the letters is very real, and one of the most moving sights of Lima's religious life.

3What to look for

• The red façade with its two small towers.
• The statue of the saint among the garden's roses.
• The entrance to the well and the hermitage, signposted beside the church.