Education and Culture of Lima

Lima is home to the country’s most prestigious public universities, including the National University of San Marcos (1551), the oldest in the western hemisphere, the National Engineering University (1896), and the La Molina National Agrarian University (1902).

Private universities are also located in Lima, notably the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (1917), the University of San Martín de Porres (1962), University of the Pacific (1962), Women’s University of the Sacred Heart (1962),the University of Lima (1962), and Ricardo Palma University (1969).

Cultural and recreational opportunities are varied in the metropolitan area. The municipal theater hosts theater, symphony, opera, and ballet performances.

Lima is home to a wide range of museums, many focusing on Peru’s indigenous heritage. These include the National Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology, the Gold Museum of Peru, the Museum of the Central Reserve Bank, and the Rafael Larco Herrera Museum, which specializes in pre-Hispanic ceramics.

Art and history museums are also found in metropolitan Lima, including the National Museum of the Republic, the Museum of Peruvian Culture, and the Museum of the Inquisition, in the building where colonial Catholic officials questioned and tortured those suspected of heresy or witchcraft.

Except for small urban plazas, Lima has few parks or open green spaces.

In the summer the city’s beaches attract many residents, but the coastline is increasingly polluted by untreated city sewage poured into the Pacific.

Those who can afford to often travel to outlying resort towns in the foothills of the Andes (Chaclacayo and Chosica) or along the coast (Ancón). As in other Latin American cities, soccer is a popular sport.

Two significant archaeological sites are found in the area of Lima. Pachacamac, about 30 km (18.5 mi) to the south along the coast, was an important religious shrine site as early as ad 200.

Initially established by people of the Lima culture, it was later occupied and modified by the Huari (also spelled Wari), Rímac, and Inca cultures. Cajamarquilla, about 15 km (9 mi) inland, was a large urban center from about 200 to 700, occupied by the Lima and Huari cultures.