Basilica and Convent of Santo Domingo

The Basilica and Convent of Santo Domingo is one of the oldest religious foundations in Lima, established by the Dominicans in the years when the city itself was founded. The first church took about 50 years to build and was finished in 1578; it was rebuilt after the earthquakes of 1678 and 1687 and altered again after 1746, and it was raised to the rank of minor basilica in 1930. The complex stands in the historic centre, facing the small Plazuela de Santo Domingo.

The church is above all a place of pilgrimage for Peru's saints. The marble tomb of Saint Rose of Lima lies in an area decorated with mosaics; Saint Martin de Porres rests in a chapel built on the site of his cell; and the reliquary of Saint John Macías is kept with those of the other two in the altarpiece of the Peruvian Saints in the right transept.

The convent is where most of the artistic interest lies. Its main cloister has galleries lined with Sevillian tiles dated 1604 and 1606, paintings of the life of Saint Dominic commissioned in 1608 from Miguel Güelles, and ceilings of oak brought from Panama. The chapter house, a 17th-century Baroque room by Diego Maroto, has a coffered ceiling of about 3,000 pieces joined without nails; it was here, in 1551, that the University of San Marcos was inaugurated. The library, in the former refectory, holds around 25,000 books including incunabula, and the choir, carved in Nicaraguan cedar in a Renaissance style with Mannerist touches, is another highlight.

Outside, look up at the bell tower, designed in 1766 by the viceroy Manuel de Amat y Junyent. At 46 metres, with an octagonal base and Rococo detail, it is one of the landmarks of the centre's skyline. Its base still keeps the rusticated stonework of the first church's facade, a reminder of how often the building has been remade after earthquakes.

Santo Domingo is at the corner of Jirón Camaná and Jirón Conde de Superunda, close to the Plaza Mayor. As it is a working church, dress modestly and avoid wandering during Mass. Allow about an hour for the church and convent, and combine it with the cathedral and the San Francisco convent for a half-day on foot.