Architecture of Peru - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Peruvian architecture is the architecture carried out during any time in what is now modern-day Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

, and by Peruvian architects worldwide. Its diversity and long history spans from ancient Peru

Peruvian Ancient Cultures

Peruvian territory was inhabited 14,000 years ago by hunters and gatherers. Subsequent developments include the appearance of sedentary communities that developed agriculture and irrigation, and the emergence of complex socio-political hierarchies that created sophisticated civilizations,...

, the Inca Empire

Inca Empire

The Inca Empire, or Inka Empire , was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco in modern-day Peru. The Inca civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century...

, Colonial Peru

Viceroyalty of Peru

Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...

to the present day.

Peruvian colonial architecture is the conjunction of European styles exposed to the influence of indigenous imagery. Two of the most well-known examples of the Renaissance period

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

are the Cathedral and the Santa Clara church in Cusco

Cusco

Cusco , often spelled Cuzco , is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the figure of 20 years ago...

. After this period, cultural mixture reached richer expression in the Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

. Some examples of this Baroque period

Baroque

are the convent of San Francisco de Lima

Convento de San Francisco

Convento de San Francisco is the Spanish name for Saint Francis Monastery located in Lima, Peru at Ancash, south of Parque la Muralla and one block northeast from the Plaza Mayor. The church and convent are part of the Historic Centre of Lima, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in...

, the church of the Compañía and the facade of the University of Cuzco

National University of San Antonio Abad in Cuzco

The National University of San Antonio Abad in Cuzco is a public university in Cusco, Peru and one of the oldest in the country. Its foundation was first proposed on March 1, 1692, at the urging and support of Pope Innocent XII...

and, overall, the churches of San Agustín and Santa Rosa of Arequipa, its more beautiful exponents.

The wars of independence

Independence of Peru

The Peruvian War of Independence was a series of military conflicts beginning in 1809 that culminated in the proclamation of the independence of Peru by José de San Martín on July 28, 1821. During the previous decade Peru had been a stronghold for royalists, who fought those in favor of...

left a creative emptiness that Neoclassicism

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

of French inspiration could just fill. The 20th century is characterized by the eclecticism

Eclecticism

Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...

, to which the constructive functionalism

Functionalism (architecture)

Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...

has been against. The most considerable example is Plaza San Martín

Plaza San Martín (Lima)

The Plaza San Martín is one of the most representative public spaces of the city of Lima, Peru. It is located at the ninth block of Colmena avenue, within the Historic Centre of Lima which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1988 by UNESCO. It is located near the Plaza Mayor of Lima and is...

in Lima

Lima

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

See also