MANSIONS
AND PALACES
The
city of Lima guards, as exact testimony of its
magnificent past, true architectonic gems from
viceroyship times: palaces and mansions which
lodged noble families since their arrival to Peru
during the Colony. All were built around the Plaza
Mayor as determined by conquistador Francisco
Pizarro who founded Lima under the name of "Ciudad
de los Reyes" (City of the Kings), determining
that it be built in the shape of a large chess
board.
The mansions , of noted Moorish influence, were
built according to specific indications the owners
were enforced to follow. For instance, the mansions
had to surround the Plaza Mayor and, their proximity
respect to the main square was according to rank
of nobility.
Moreover,
the nobility of the resident could be identified
depending on where the stairs leading up the second
floor were located. Those first following Pizarro
to Peru built their homes with the stairs in the
center of the first courtyard; succeeding members
of the nobility had them placed against a side
wall.
Moreover,
these patios were always adorned with a fountain
or cistern pool. This feature stands out at the
Casa de Aliaga (House of Aliaga) which was built
by Jeronimo de Aliaga, one of Pizarro's partners,
on top of a native temple a section of the which
still remains partially preserved.
Another
representative feature of these mansions and palaces
was the family coat of arms of the occupants which
was displayed over the main entrance; as may be
seen at the Casa de Pilatos or Casa Jarava y Esquivel.
The coats of arms of the Jarava and the Esquivel
families, the first owners, stand out on its imposing
17th-century stone doorway. Today it is one of
the main offices of the Instituto Nacional de
Cultura (National Institute of Culture).
The
Torre Tagle Palace guards in its interior oil
portraits of the Marquis of Torre Tagle and his
wife, the daughter of the King of Spain, its earlier
owners. The opulence of its interiors clearly
indicates that the Infanta suffered no yearning
for the luxuries and comfort of the Royal Court.
Curiously, this palace bears the family coat of
arms on the stone archway entrance to the palace
and, on the ceiling of the stairway, significantly
more conspicuous, the inscription: "Tagle
llamó quien sierpe mató y con Infanta
casó" ("Whom serpent slayed and
Infanta espoused, Tagle was called"). Today
it is the main office of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
The
Casa de la Riva (De la Riva House) is distinguished
for its doorways made with wood from Nicaragua,
tiles with motifs of flowers and bunches of grapes
brought all the way from Andalucia, large windows
with wrought iron railings combined with walls
painted in bright colors, honoring the colonial
taste of the 17th century.
All
these mansions have been restored by private institutions
in an attempt to reproduce their original structures
and adornments. This may be appreciated at the
Casa Goyeneche (Goyeneche House), today owned
by the Banco de Credito and which shelters grand
crystal chandeliers, Spanish clocks alongside
Venetian vases, enormous mirrors, oil paintings
of harquebus archangels and saints reviving biblical
themes painted by natives of the Cuzco School
of Art and framed in gold and silver leaf. The
high ceilings and archways, finely finished in
wood from the forests of Guatemala and Nicaragua,
and the spacious chambers contribute that the
exquisite works of stand out against the contrasting
bright colors of its walls.
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