Built in 1557 and later restored in 1672 after an earthquake, the Monastery de San Francisco is a Franciscan monastery and church in downtown Lima. During your visit, you are required to follow a guided tour (Spanish or English) which is included in your ~$2 entrance.  The monastery is famous for it's catacombs lined with the bones from over 25,000 people.


Used as a public cemetery, the monks and parishioners to be "buried" underneath the monastery until 1821.  The decomposition of the corpses was aided with the use of lime before their bones were added to the others.  Some of the pits are said to be as deep as 60 feet. During a study of the catacombs in the first half of the 20th century, the conservationists arranged the bones in the eerie patterns you see in these pictures to aid in their counting.






While it's probably safe to say that the bones may be the biggest draw, there are plenty of other highlights that would land this church in a guide book even without the catacombs. The building is covered with murals and paintings, a Peruvian rendition of The Last Supper stands above all the others.  It was painted by a indigenous native who was taught by the Spanish to paint religious works. His version of The Last Supper shows Christ and the Apostles about to dine on a table filled with some very Peruvian items; cuy (guinea-pig), papaya, yucca, and glasses of chicha. Above are table is a group of angels with parrot wings.


Also in the tour is a visit to the monastery's library which is one of the oldest and most historically important libraries in the Americas and contains thousands of antique text – some dating as far back as to have been carried to Lima from Spain by the conquistadors.