Alameda de los Descalzos

Description:

• This promenade was built in 1611 by the Marquis de Montesclaros, and later rebuilt in 1770 by Viceroy Manuel de Amat. It was adorned with three fountains donated by Agustín Hipólito de Landaburu, the first impresario of Lima's Plaza de Toros (bullfighting ring). In 1856, the president Ramón Castilla gave it a new and definitive look, importing beautiful forged iron railings from England to enclose it. It is formed by a wide central avenue, lined with twelve fine Carrara marble statues depicting the signs of the zodiac, as well as 100 iron urns and 50 marble seats which line both sides and an elegant spouting fountain at the end of the Alameda. For many years, this was the only promenade that existed in Lima. It is surrounded by the colonial churches of 'Santa Liberata', 'Virgen del Patrocinio' and the church and convent of 'Los Descalzos'.
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