Convento de San Francisco y Catacumbas
A few steps from the noise of Jr. Áncash, you pass through a Baroque façade and into a cloister lined with hand-painted Sevillian tiles — the kind of detail that stops you mid-stride. This Franciscan complex has been accumulating layers since 1546, when a modest church first rose here, and what stands today is the result of earthquake, reconstruction, and three centuries of slow accumulation.
Below your feet, in brick-and-calicanto vaults that functioned as Lima's main burial ground until 1810, rest the bones of more than 25,000 people. The catacombs were only opened to the public in 1943. The library upstairs holds around 25,000 volumes, including a 1572 Biblia Regia printed in Antwerp.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who come back tend to linger in the library rather than rush through it — ask your guide about the incunabula and the first dictionary ever published by the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language. On the 28th of any month, San Judas Tadeo's chapel fills with flower arrangements, a quiet ritual worth timing your visit around.
The story behind Convento de San Francisco y Catacumbas
Francisco de Santa Ana founded a small church here in 1546, the seed of what would become the main seat of the Franciscan Province of the Twelve Apostles of Peru. The 1655 earthquake levelled the original buildings, and the Portuguese architect Constantino de Vasconcellos took charge of reconstruction. The first part of the rebuilt complex was inaugurated on 3 October 1672; the sacristy portal, finished by ensign Lucas de Meléndez, was completed in 1729.
The catacombs Vasconcellos restructured served as Lima's legal burial ground until 1810 and were revealed to the public only in 1943. Since 1968, the museum has conserved one of the most significant collections of Peruvian viceregal art. The entire Historic Centre, including this complex, joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991.
Good to know
Admission is 15 soles for adults and includes a bilingual guided tour of roughly an hour — photography is not permitted, so leave the camera in your bag. The Metropolitano BRT gets you close; the complex is 350 metres from Plaza de Armas. Sunday hours cut off at 12:45pm, so arrive early.
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What travellers say about Convento de San Francisco y Catacumbas
It was nice but I felt there could be more time to absorb all the stuck therebas I felt our guide was very quick and moved is along. You could inside the church which is free and you can see the skull from the floor. It is worth the visit. Also what was sad is they didn't have a book about the place to purchase.
The tour was given by a very knowledgeable young lady. The art work work and wood carvings were worth the admission. Very nice experience
The place was very nice and pretty, but it was upsetting we couldn’t take pictures during the tour and only in the cathedral.The tour guide was also a bit boring and hard to understand. Overall it was a nice experience, though.
A stunning building with detailed dating back to the 1600s! The tour guides were great but if Spanish is not your first language it might be hard to understand
Not so good anymore, the tourist guide speaks so so fast that even a regular person can get much of the information that she is delivering, the tourist guide walks so fast from one room to another and the group the tourist was so large that was difficult to follow her and hear what she was explaining. Also I been there with the school many years ago and I noticed that the catacombs tour is shorter now, before we just to visit more salons and catacombs areas also the torture salons but now a days it’s a very short visit of the Museo por the price that they charge isn’t good enough really
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