Cementerio Memorial Park Presbítero Matías Maestro — Attraction in Lima Metropolitan Area

I have very mixed feelings about this place, but it's definitely worth a visit.

Corrections: Hours are 9-5pm with late night tour options available (booked in advance) Its 10 soles entry, not 8 as stated here.

Good: Amazing artwork. Statues, tombs, all amazing! Its a very big area! It can take 3-4 hours to explore fully.

Bad: The neighborhood is very sketchy. Get an Uber door to door. Sometimes it's hard to find an available taxi when leaving, so be careful. The people working there (cleaners, gardeners etc) try to take you on tours and ask for as much as 30 soles from you. Avoid it. They know nothing that you cannot find yourself. You are given a map with the ticket. People pretend to work there and try to take you on a tour, then lead you to the far corner of the cemetery where there is nothing. Its super sketchy, just avoid anybody like this. If you want a tour, ask at the ticket office. Maintenance is very very poor. Its not well looked after. Overgrown trees, holes in the floor, crypts falling apart, a poor state of disrepair, even the crypt of the heroes is missing glass on the main door.

Info: The tomb of the heroes (the biggest building) is only open during July, the time of the independence. Its not a deal breaker though if you miss this. You buy tickets across the street from gate 3. If you have family buried here, you can access for free. Its like a prison, everything is locked right. You have to show your ticket to the guard to...

CUIDADO PELIGROSO. CAREFUL DANGEROUS. Be aware this is not open until 7pm!! It closes at 5pm. My friend at I got here shortly after five and they wouldn’t let us in but they made us stand behind the gate bc this area is so unsafe. When we got in an Uber to go back to our hostel, he had to drive through slums because that is all that surrounds the area. After about five to ten minutes of driving away from the cemetery two teenagers smashed the car window and robbed the driver and attacked us. Fortunately we fought them off and made it back safely with another driver. The cemetery is really cool but I wouldn’t recommend anyone to visit because it’s a very unsafe/risky car ride. My friend and I are experienced travelers and had a really bad feelings about the area as we got farther from the city. Be careful if you...

Más que un cementerio es un museo histórico. El cementerio Presbítero Matías Maestro, fue el primer cementerio de Lima, inaugurado el 31 de mayo de 1808. Antes de esta fecha los entierros se realizaban en las bóvedas sepulcrales debajo de casas religiosas, iglesias y atrios. Asimismo, el ajuar funerario y la forma en que se colocaba el cadáver dependían de la posición económica. Los cuerpos de la gente más pudiente reposaban en ataúdes, los de indios y mulatos se colocaban sobre tablones. Asimismo el hedor de los cadáveres era insoportable en las iglesias, el olor que se sentía en las iglesias que impedía que los feligreses terminaran de escuchar la misa. Luego en el virreinato del Perú el científico criollo Hipólito Unanue y los principales intelectuales en Lima, reunidos en la Sociedad de Amantes del País, fundada en 1790, exhortaban y promovían la inhumación de los cadáveres en cementerios alejados de la ciudad. En 1796 el virrey Manuel Amat y Juniet dio inicio al proyecto del cementerio para Lima, iniciando el expediente para solicitar autorización para su construcción, la misma que le fue encargada al arquitecto Matías Maestro Alegría, las obras se iniciaron el 23 de abril de 1807, y el panteón de Lima como se le denominó comúnmente se inauguró el 31 de mayo de 1808. Antes de Lima, ya se habían construido cementerios en las ciudades de Trujillo, Tarma y Ate entre 1782 y 1790, y en 1804 en Arequipa, en el área rural de Pampa de Miraflores; al inicio hubo mucha reticencia entre la élite limeña por enterrarse en el cementerio general, alejado de la ciudad y fuera de las murallas. Se seguía pensando que la cercanía a la capilla mayor de los templos aumentaba las posibilidades de...