Basilica and Convent of San Francisco, Lima, Peru

The Basilica and Convent of San Francisco is located in the Historic Center of Lima, Peru. The monumental complex contains a church, monastery, library, and catacombs. The church and monastery were completed in 1674. The library is world-renowned, possessing about 25,000 antique books, some of them predating the Spanish conquest. The monastery features a number of famous paintings. Among them, the Last Supper, painted by Friar Diego de la Puente in the XVII century, depicts a meal with typical Peruvian ingredients such as guinea pig, potatoes and hot peppers. The enthralling catacombs, located in the church’s basement, contain thousands of skulls and bones. The catacombs served as a burial-place until 1808, when the city’s main cemetery opened in the outskirts of Lima. The catacombs were rediscovered in 1943 and opened to the public in 1950.