Located just one block northeast of the Plaza Mayor near the southern bank of the Rimac River in the Historic Centre of Lima, the monumental complex of the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco, Lima (known formally in Spanish as the Conjunto Monumental de San Francisco de Jesus el Grande) greets visitors with its iconic ochre-yellow rusticated walls, crisp white stucco moldings, and towering carved grey stone portal. Opening before the basilica is the cobbled forecourt of the Plazuela de San Francisco, where flocks of pigeons wheel above a continuous architectural front uniting three sanctuaries: the Basilica of San Francisco at the center, the Church of Our Lady of Solitude (Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Soledad) to the northwest, and the Church of the Miracle (Iglesia del Milagro) to the southeast.
In the history of Latin American Catholic art and architecture, San Francisco of Lima occupies such a preeminent place that in 1988 UNESCO originally inscribed the Convent Ensemble of San Francisco de Lima on its own as a World Heritage Site, three years before expanding the designation to encompass the entire Historic Centre of Lima in 1991. Whereas Cusco Cathedral in the high Andes was built of dark volcanic andesite blocks over an Inca palace and the Monastery of Santa Catalina de Siena, Arequipa was carved from white volcanic sillar stone, the Basilica of San Francisco in Lima represents the supreme triumph of coastal Lima Baroque (Barroco Limeno) blended with Spanish-Islamic Mudejar woodcraft and flexible indigenous-inspired quincha seismic engineering.
ISaint Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis Solano the Apostle of South America, and Franciscan Spirituality in Vice-Regal Lima
The monumental basilica and convent are dedicated under the historic title of San Francisco de Jesus el Grande (Saint Francis of Jesus the Great), honoring Saint Francis of Assisi (1181 or 1182 to 1226), founder of the Order of Friars Minor (Ordo Fratrum Minorum). On January 18, 1535, the very day conquistador Francisco Pizarro laid out the grid plan of Lima (then named Ciudad de los Reyes, the City of the Kings), he assigned a spacious plot bordering the Rimac River to the Franciscan friars. In 1546, Fray Francisco de la Cruz formally established the convent and erected its first permanent church, making Lima the headquarters of the Franciscan Province of the Twelve Apostles of Peru (Provincia Franciscana de los Doce Apostoles del Peru), the mother province from which Franciscan missionaries fanned out across the Andes, the Amazon basin, Bolivia, Chile, and the Rio de la Plata.
High upon the central stone retablo facade of the basilica, the sculpted stone figure of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, proclaimed the supreme Queen and Patroness of the Franciscan Order, stands upon a crescent moon surrounded by cherubim, while directly beneath her feet kneels Saint Francis of Assisi with arms outstretched in ecstasy to receive the stigmata beneath the gaze of the Eternal Father.
Spiritual life inside the Convent of San Francisco is equally shaped by the legacy of a great saint who lived, preached, and died within its walls: Saint Francis Solano (San Francisco Solano, 1549 to 1610, revered across the continent as the Apostle of South America). Born in Montilla in Andalusia, Spain, Fray Francisco Solano arrived in Peru in 1589 and walked thousands of miles across Tucuman, the Gran Chaco, Paraguay, and Peru, mastering indigenous languages and playing his violin before native communities to sing of divine love and defend indigenous peoples against abuse. Appointed Guardian (Superior) of the Convent of San Francisco in Lima in his final years, he became legendary for his penitential preaching, care for the sick, and prophetic charity until his death in the convent infirmary on July 14, 1610 (he was canonized by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726, and his relics are venerated inside the basilica complex).
Alongside Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Francis Solano, the basilica serves as Peru's foremost pilgrimage sanctuary for devotion to Saint Jude Thaddeus the Apostle (San Judas Tadeo), patron of difficult cases and workers, as well as the revered nineteenth-century Franciscan missionary Fray Ramon Rojas (Padre Guatemala, 1775 to 1839) and Our Lady of Solitude (Nuestra Senora de la Soledad).
The creation of the grand Baroque edifice standing today grew directly out of a seventeenth-century seismic catastrophe. On the afternoon of February 4, 1656, a violent earthquake struck Lima, collapsing the vaults and pillars of the sixteenth-century Franciscan church and destroying priceless artworks. Undaunted, the newly appointed Franciscan Commissioner General of Peru, Fray Luis de Cervela, resolved to build an entirely new basilica and convent that would surpass every church in the Americas in beauty while withstanding the fiercest coastal earthquakes.
To achieve this dual vision, Fray Luis de Cervela commissioned the brilliant Portuguese nobleman, mathematician, mining engineer, and architect Constantino de Vasconcelos to draft the architectural plans, and entrusted execution to Lima's premier master builder, Manuel de Escobar, who directed construction from 1657 until the church's inauguration on October 3, 1672 (followed by solemn consecration on January 22, 1673). Rather than rebuilding heavy stone or brick vaults overhead, Vasconcelos and Escobar perfected the structural use of quincha, a lightweight, flexible vaulting system framed in cedar timber laced with woven river cane and coated in lime-and-gypsum plaster, adapting pre-Columbian coastal Peruvian building technology to European Baroque forms. When the cataclysmic magnitude 8.6 earthquake and tsunami of October 28, 1746 leveled almost every building in Lima and Callao, the flexible quincha barrel vaults and domes of San Francisco swayed with the shockwaves and survived intact.
A frequent misconception among visitors descending into the famous Subterranean Catacombs (Catacumbas) beneath the Basilica of San Francisco is the notion that these underground tunnels were secret hiding places for persecuted Christians, like the ancient catacombs of Rome, or dungeons of the Inquisition. In historical reality, throughout the Spanish Vice-Regal era from the sixteenth century until the early nineteenth century, Lima had no municipal cemeteries outside the city walls; in accordance with Catholic tradition across Spain and the Americas, the faithful were buried beneath the floors of parish and monastic churches so that their mortal remains might rest near the altar and the relics of the saints. The extensive brick-vaulted crypt network beneath the nave and side chapels of San Francisco functioned as the principal subterranean burial ground of Lima's lay brotherhoods (cofradias), benefactors, and citizens until 1808, when Viceroy Jose Fernando de Abascal opened the Presbitero Matias Maestro Cemetery outside the city gates for public health reasons. Furthermore, the deep circular bone wells sunk into the alluvial gravel beneath the crypts acted as structural shock-dissipating chambers during earthquakes.
IINearly Five Centuries from Francisco Pizarro's 1535 Land Grant and the 1657 Reconstruction to UNESCO World Heritage Status
The history of the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco spans the entire urban biography of Lima from its founding in 1535 through the golden age of the Viceroyalty of Peru, major seismic reconstructions, and modern international conservation.
- January 18, 1535 and 1546Francisco Pizarro grants the Rimac riverside plot and Fray Francisco de la Cruz founds the conventUpon founding Lima in January 1535, Francisco Pizarro allocates plots near the Rimac River to the Franciscans; in 1546 Fray Francisco de la Cruz establishes the permanent convent, which expands into a four-block monastic city by the early 1600s.
- 1589 to July 14, 1610Saint Francis Solano ministers across South America and dies at San Francisco Convent in LimaAfter decades of missionary journeys across Tucuman, the Chaco, and Peru, Saint Francis Solano serves in Lima and dies in the convent infirmary on July 14, 1610; he is beatified in 1675 and canonized in 1726.
- 1620 and 1625Installation of the Seville azulejo tile dadoes and carving of the Mudejar cedar domeIn 1620 the Main Cloister walls are lined with glazed ceramic tiles imported from Seville through the patronage of Catalina Huanca and Hernando de Santa Cruz; in 1625 master carpenter Andres Espinosa crafts the geometric Mudejar cedar dome above the grand staircase.
- February 4, 1656 to October 3, 1672Collapse of the old church in the 1656 earthquake and Baroque reconstruction by Vasconcelos and EscobarFollowing the destructive earthquake of February 1656, Commissioner General Fray Luis de Cervela commissions architect Constantino de Vasconcelos and builder Manuel de Escobar to erect the new Baroque basilica, inaugurated on October 3, 1672 and consecrated on January 22, 1673.
- 1808 and 1943Closure of the subterranean burial crypts under Viceroy Abascal and 1943 rediscovery of the CatacombsBurials beneath the basilica cease in 1808 upon the opening of the Presbitero Maestro Cemetery; in 1943 the sealed subterranean vaults containing the remains of roughly 25,000 people are systematically explored and opened to the public in 1951.
- January 11, 1963 and 1988Pope John XXIII proclaims the church a Minor Basilica and UNESCO inscribes it as a World Heritage SitePope John XXIII elevates the sanctuary to a Papal Minor Basilica in 1963; in 1988 UNESCO inscribes the Convent of San Francisco on the World Heritage List (extended in 1991 to the Historic Centre of Lima, Ref. 500).
The 1620 Seville Azulejos, the Legend of Alonso Godinez, and the Canvases of Rubens and Zurbaran. Walking through the ground-floor arcades of the Main Cloister (Claustro Principal), visitors are surrounded by gleaming panels of polychrome glazed ceramic tiles (azulejos sevillanos) fired in the workshops of Hernando de Valladares in Seville in 1620. Alongside the documented donations of the noble Indigenous benefactress Catalina Huanca and Hernando de Santa Cruz, Lima tradition preserves the famous account of Alonso Godinez, a wealthy Spaniard condemned to hang on the Plaza Mayor for a crime of passion: gazing toward the towers of San Francisco from the gallows, he vowed to donate his fortune to tile the cloister in honor of Our Lady if his life were spared; when the rope snapped, he was pardoned, entered the Franciscan Order as a lay brother, and personally oversaw the laying of the tiles.
Above the tile dadoes hang 39 large canvases painted in 1671 by four Lima masters (Francisco de Escobar, Pedro Fernandez de Noriega, Diego de Aguilera, and Andres de Liebana) illustrating the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. Inside the Sacristy (Sacristia, completed in 1729) and the Sala de Profundis, the convent preserves two extraordinary European painting cycles shipped to Lima in the seventeenth century: eleven monumental Passion canvases from the Antwerp workshop of Peter Paul Rubens (1577 to 1640) and an Apostolado series of Christ and the Twelve Apostles painted by the Spanish Golden Age master Francisco de Zurbaran (1598 to 1664).
IIIThe Lima Baroque Stone Retablo Portal, Seismic Quincha Vaults, the 1625 Mudejar Cedar Dome, the Antique Library, and the Catacombs
The monumental ensemble of San Francisco encompasses the three-aisled Basilica, the flanking sanctuaries of La Soledad and El Milagro, the Main Cloister, the Conventual Library, the Chapter Room, the Sacristy, and the subterranean Catacombs. Together they define the architectural vocabulary of seventeenth-century Lima, where rhythmic rusticated plasterwork, deeply carved stone portals, and Islamic-inspired geometric carpentry meet coastal seismic engineering.
Fronting the cobbled Plazuela de San Francisco, the basilica's facade is the prototype of High Lima Baroque architecture. Flanking the entrance are two massive bell towers articulated with rhythmic horizontal bossed rustication bands (almohadillado) painted in ochre yellow and white. Between the towers rises a soaring three-story carved grey stone portal structured like an outdoor altarpiece (portada-retablo), adorned with Corinthian columns, oval oculi, angelic reliefs, and statues of the Immaculate Conception and Saint Francis of Assisi.
The Latin-cross interior consists of a lofty central barrel-vaulted nave and two side aisles lined with interconnected chapels, crowned by a central dome at the crossing. Every vault and dome is constructed of flexible quincha (cedar timber ribbing, woven cane, and plaster) covered from end to end in deeply molded Mudejar geometric strapwork reliefs. On the elevated western choir loft stands the magnificent seventeenth-century carved Panama-cedar choir (silleria del coro) comprising 130 stalls arranged in two tiers, sculpted in high relief with 71 figures of Franciscan saints and martyrs.
Crowning the monumental double-flight staircase of the convent is the most celebrated masterpiece of Mudejar woodcraft in the Americas. Built in 1625 by carpenter Andres Espinosa entirely out of fragrant Nicaraguan cedar joined without iron nails, the hemispherical dome weaves thousands of carved wooden strips into interlocking eight-pointed and twelve-pointed stars and geometric polygons (laceria mudejar). Carefully dismantled and reassembled after the earthquakes of 1940 and 1970, it filters soft light down upon the staircase landing.
Regarded as one of the finest preserved colonial monastic libraries in the world, the library hall features two tiers of carved cypress and cedar bookshelves reached by twin spiral wooden staircases under coffered skylights. It houses approximately 25,000 volumes printed between 1480 and the late eighteenth century in Latin, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Quechua, and Aymara, including the famed 1571 to 1572 Antwerp Royal Polyglot Bible printed by Christophe Plantin, early Andean dictionaries, and 6,000 giant illuminated sheep-parchment choir antiphonaries.
Extending beneath the main nave, side chapels, and El Milagro sanctuary is a labyrinth of vaulted brick passages and burial chambers used from the sixteenth century until 1808. Alongside rectangular masonry ossuaries, the crypts contain deep circular wells up to 10 meters deep sunk into the river gravel, within which skulls and long femurs and tibias of roughly 25,000 colonial inhabitants are arranged in striking concentric geometric rings.
| Architectural Component or Collection | Date and Architect or Artist | Technical Features and Cultural Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Basilica Nave and Stone Retablo Facade | 1657 to 1674 (Constantino de Vasconcelos and Manuel de Escobar) | Three-story carved stone Baroque portal between rusticated twin towers; earthquake-resistant quincha vaults |
| Mudejar Cedar Staircase Dome | 1625 (Andres Espinosa; restored after 1940 and 1970 earthquakes) | Hemispherical geometric star-lattice dome crafted from Nicaraguan cedar without nails |
| Main Cloister and Cedar Choir Stalls | 1620 Seville azulejo tiles; 17th-century 130-stall carved cedar choir | Arcaded cloister with 39 paintings of Saint Francis (1671) and upper choir loft with 71 carved saint reliefs |
| Conventual Library and Sacristy Paintings | 17th century (books from 1480 to 18th c.; Rubens workshop & Zurbaran) | 25,000 antique volumes, 1571 Plantin Polyglot Bible, 6,000 choir books, and paintings by Zurbaran and Rubens's studio |
| Subterranean Catacombs (Catacumbas) | 16th century to 1808 (rediscovered 1943, opened 1951) | Brick-vaulted underground cemetery holding the remains of some 25,000 citizens in circular geometric bone wells |
IVThe Lie of the Land and the Facing
It should be stated clearly that the Franciscan friars and seventeenth-century Iberian architects did not employ East Asian geomancy (feng shui) in siting or designing the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco. The complex was laid out within the Renaissance orthogonal grid (Damero de Pizarro) established along the Rimac River in 1535. The comparative observations below read the urban and natural topography through the traditional landform framework of the Hall of Myriad Paths library.
Viewed within the macro-topography of the Rimac River Valley at coordinates 12.0456 degrees south, 77.0268 degrees west, the Historic Centre of Lima sits upon a firm alluvial gravel fan where the Andean foothills meet the coastal plain. Directly across the river to the north and northeast rises the prominent rocky peak of Cerro San Cristobal (400 meters high, crowned by a monumental illuminated pilgrimage cross), which stands as a natural guardian mountain sheltering the northern edge of the historic city.
In terms of watercourse geometry and axial orientation, immediately behind the convent's northern perimeter flows the Rimac River (from the Quechua Rimaq, the Speaking River), descending from the snowfields of the Western Cordillera of the Andes to empty into the Pacific Ocean at Callao, wrapping the northern flank of the monastic precinct like a protective water belt. The main facade of the Basilica of San Francisco faces west-southwest onto the recessed, cobbled forecourt of the Plazuela de San Francisco. Because the Church of Our Lady of Solitude projects forward on the northwest wing and the Church of El Milagro bounds the southeast side, the three facades form a welcoming architectural embrace that encloses the plaza as a tranquil outer bright hall, gathering pedestrian movement from Jiron Lampa and Jiron Ancash while the two-story cloister courts inside preserve deep monastic stillness.
VThe Feast of Saint Francis on October 4, Saint Francis Solano on July 14, and the Processions of Saint Jude Thaddeus
Liturgical and devotional life at the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco follows the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar on the Gregorian system, anchoring some of the oldest and most crowded religious processions in the capital of Peru.
| Time of Year | Calendar System | Liturgical Feast or Procession | Traditions and Rites at the Basilica of San Francisco |
|---|---|---|---|
| March or April | Gregorian (Moveable Feast) | Holy Week and Good Friday Procession of Our Lady of Solitude (Semana Santa) | Centered on the adjoining Sanctuary of Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, Good Friday features the solemn three-hour Sermon of the Seven Last Words and the historic candlelit procession of the Sorrowful Mother through downtown Lima. |
| July 14 | Gregorian | Solemnity of Saint Francis Solano, Apostle of South America | Commemorates the death of Saint Francis Solano in this convent on July 14, 1610, with veneration of his relics, visits to his infirmary chapel, and festive Masses celebrating his missionary legacy. |
| October 3 and October 4 | Gregorian (Patronal Solemnity) | Transitus Service and Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi | Evening liturgy of the Transitus on October 3 commemorating the passing of Saint Francis, followed on October 4 by Pontifical Mass, the traditional fraternal greeting between the statues of Saint Francis and Saint Dominic, and the blessing of animals. |
| October 28 and the 28th of Every Month | Gregorian | Feast and Grand Procession of Saint Jude Thaddeus (San Judas Tadeo) | One of Lima's largest popular devotions: tens of thousands of faithful visit the basilica on the 28th of each month and carry the one-ton silver litter of Saint Jude Thaddeus through the streets of Lima every October. |
| December (Advent and Christmas Season) | Gregorian | The Franciscan Nativity Scene (El Pesebre Franciscano) and Choral Concerts | Honoring Saint Francis of Assisi's creation of the first Nativity creche at Greccio in 1223, the basilica erects a monumental Nativity scene accompanied by traditional villancico choral concerts. |
Popular devotion to Saint Jude Thaddeus and the four-century fraternal meeting of Saint Francis and Saint Dominic. Every 28th day of the month, and culminating in the grand October novena and procession, long lines of Lima workers, students, and families carrying green-and-white candles fill the Plazuela de San Francisco to pray before the image of Saint Jude Thaddeus inside the basilica. Equally cherished in Lima's civic memory is the four-hundred-year-old ceremony held on the feasts of Saint Dominic (August) and Saint Francis (October), when the processional litters of the two mendicant founders meet in the historic streets and bow to one another amidst applause and brass bands, renewing the spiritual bond between the Franciscan and Dominican friars of Peru.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- Corner of Jiron Ancash and Jiron Lampa (Plazuela de San Francisco), Cercado de Lima, Lima 15001, Republic of Peru
- Getting there
- The Basilica and Convent of San Francisco is located at the corner of Jiron Ancash (Block 3) and Jiron Lampa on the Plazuela de San Francisco in the Historic Centre of Lima (Cercado de Lima). From the Plaza Mayor (Plaza de Armas) and the Government Palace, the basilica is a short 4-minute walk (250 meters) one block northeast along Jiron Lampa and right onto Jiron Ancash. Visitors arriving from Miraflores or Barranco via the Metropolitano rapid-transit bus can alight at the Jiron de la Union or Estacion Central stop and walk 10 minutes through the pedestrianized historic center to the Plazuela de San Francisco.
- Coordinates
- -12.0456, -77.0268
The Basilica and Convent of San Francisco complex operates in two distinct areas: the Basilica church itself (along with the neighboring churches of La Soledad and El Milagro) is open daily free of charge during Mass hours for prayer and quiet visitation; the Museum of the Convent of San Francisco and the Underground Catacombs (which includes the Seville-tiled Main Cloister, the 25,000-volume Library, the 1625 Mudejar cedar dome, the Rubens and Zurbaran painting halls, and the subterranean Catacombs) is open daily from 9:00 a.m. until early evening by ticketed guided tour in Spanish or English. Please note that photography and video recording are strictly prohibited throughout the convent museum, the antique library, and the underground catacombs to protect the seventeenth-century canvases and preserve the dignity of the burial crypts; visitors who experience claustrophobia should inform their guide before descending into the narrow subterranean vaults.
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?Quick Questions
How did the Basilica of San Francisco in Lima survive the catastrophic earthquakes of 1687 and 1746?
After the sixteenth-century church collapsed in the earthquake of February 1656, architect Constantino de Vasconcelos and master builder Manuel de Escobar reconstructed the basilica between 1657 and 1672 using quincha, an ingenious seismic-resistant building technique in which the upper barrel vaults and domes are framed in flexible cedar wood and woven river cane coated with lightweight lime plaster, allowing the vaults to flex during tremors without collapsing.
What were the underground Catacombs beneath the Basilica of San Francisco used for, and how many people were buried there?
The Catacombs served as the main subterranean cemetery for Lima's lay brotherhoods (cofradias), friars, and citizens from the sixteenth century until 1808, when Lima's first municipal cemetery outside the city walls opened. Rediscovered in 1943, the brick-vaulted crypt labyrinth holds the skeletal remains of approximately 25,000 people, with skulls and long bones arranged in concentric rings inside 10-meter-deep seismic wells.
What makes the wooden dome above the grand staircase of the convent architecturally famous?
Carved in 1625 by master carpenter Andres Espinosa out of fragrant Nicaraguan cedar joined without iron nails, the hemispherical dome above the main staircase is the finest surviving example of Spanish-Islamic Mudejar geometric star-lattice woodwork (laceria mudejar) in the Americas.
What rare books and manuscripts are housed in the Convent of San Francisco Library?
The seventeenth-century Conventual Library preserves roughly 25,000 volumes printed between 1480 and the late eighteenth century on two tiers of cypress shelves reached by spiral staircases. Highlights include the 1571 to 1572 Antwerp Royal Polyglot Bible printed by Christophe Plantin, early Quechua and Aymara dictionaries, incunabula, and 6,000 massive illuminated parchment choir books.
Which famous South American saint lived and died inside this convent?
Saint Francis Solano (San Francisco Solano, 1549 to 1610), revered as the Apostle of South America for his missionary journeys and violin music among indigenous communities across the Andes and the Chaco, served as Guardian of the Convent of San Francisco in Lima and died in its infirmary on July 14, 1610.
What rules should visitors keep in mind when touring the Convent Museum and Catacombs?
While the Basilica church is open free of charge during worship hours, entry to the Convent Museum, Library, and underground Catacombs is by ticketed guided tour only (offered in Spanish and English), and photography or video recording is strictly forbidden inside the museum halls and subterranean crypts.