COMPLEJO BELÉN

This sprawling colonial religious compound (9 a.m.–1 p.m. and 3–5:45 p.m. Mon.–Sat., 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Sunday, $1.25) was built between 1627 and 1774 by the Bethlemite religious order, which arrived from Nicaragua with the express purpose of building a hospital for the local Indians. The compound, made of volcanic stone, is now converted into medical and archaeological museums. Though its towers were never finished, Iglesia Belén has one of the most stunning baroque facades in all of Peru: four angels float above swirling sculpted forms and guard a central window, through which the souls of the dead entered before traveling down the nave onto the cupola, where more painted angels sustain the weight of heaven on their fingertips. The altar, like most in Cajamarca, is neoclassical, from the late 19th century, and was replaced after the first altar was burnt during the War of the Pacific.

A quick tour around the adjacent men’s hospital—which operated until 1965!—gives a sense of how miserable conditions were: patients stretched out in dark niches, watching Mass so that the spirit of the devil would leave their bodies. They were bled nearly constantly, usually until they died, and families were not permitted to use either their traditional medicines nor burial rituals. After death, families of the dead often became indebted as they struggled to pay for Masses that would elevate their loved one’s status from hell to purgatory and finally to heaven.

Across the street is another hospital built for women, which has a startling sculpture on the facade of a woman with four breasts. As the facade was sculpted by Indian artisans, some say the woman is a fertility symbol, while others claim that multiple nipples (known in medical terms as polythelia, or supernumerary nipples!) are a relatively common occurrence in the nearby town of Chilacat. Inside is the Museo Arqueológico, which displays an excellent collection of ceramics and implements from Andean life, most of which are still in use today. The guides at the museum’s entrance ask for a tip in exchange for explaining the exhibits.