The Museo Arqueológico Nacional Bruning (Huamachuco, block 7, tel. 074/28-2110, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, US$2.50) is an interesting museum founded in 1925 and remodeled in 2006. The museum’s ceramics collection alone is worth the visit, especially if you missed Museo Cassinelli in Trujillo.

Museo Bruning has an eclectic collection: Sicán gold masks with the famous winged eyes and red patina of mercury ore found at Batán Grande; a variety of weapons and musical instruments found at Túcume; and a Moche ceramics collection that includes marine animals, an enigmatic vase of a man straddling what appears to be a torpedo, and other Moche vases depicting a range of human disease and sexual practices.

After the colonial center of Zaña was destroyed in a flood in 1720, Lambayeque flourished and several important colonial homes and churches were built. Now Lambayeque is a sleepy town with one new hotel and a handful of restaurants.

Worth seeing if you have the time is Iglesia San Pedro, a large, yellow-and-white church on the main square that was completed by 1739. Inside are large murals and 10 altars, the oldest being the baroque Virgen de las Mercedes.

One block away, at the intersection of Dos de Mayo and San Martín, is the La Casa Montjoy, with the largest balcony in Peru—over 65 meters long! It was from here that liberator San Martín gave the first shout of independence in 1820.

Getting to Museo Bruning

To reach Lambayeque from Chiclayo, take a combi from Vicente de la Vega and Leonardo Ortiz, in front of the Otursa bus terminal.