MUSEO NACIONAL DE ARQUEOLOGÍA

A 15-minute walk away from Museo Larco, and linked to it with a blue line drawn on the sidewalk, is Pueblo Libre’s laid-back Plaza Bolívar, and the Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología, e Historia (Vivanco block 7, tel. 01/463-5070, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tues.–Sat., 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Sunday, $3 including tour). Though smaller than the Museo de la Nación, this museum presents a clearer, certainly more condensed, view of Peruvian history. Exhibits include Moche ceramics, Paracas tapestries, Chimú gold, and scale models for understanding sights of hard-to-see Chavín and Wari sites.

The museum’s most important piece is the Estela Raimondi, a giant stone obelisk that once graced one of Peru’s first ceremonial centers, Chavín de Huantár (1300–200 b.c.), near present-day Huaraz. It is carved with snakes, pumas, and the first appearance of the Dios de los Báculos (the Staff-Bearing God), which would reverberate throughout Peru’s ancient history. The tour includes a walk through the adjacent colonial home where Independence leaders José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar stayed.

Around the corner is the 16th-century Iglesia Magdalena (San Martín and Vivanco, 6:30–8 p.m. Fri.–Tues., 8 a.m.–8 p.m. Thursday), which has attractive carved altars and a gold painting of Señor de los Tremblores (Lord of the Earthquakes). An excellent restaurant, café, and pisco-tasting bodega, all steeped in tradition, are down the street.