The capital of Peru restores its historical churches: we want to recover people’s fervor

Lima, the capital of Peru, is living a process of rebirth thanks to the effort of the Planning, Management and Recovery Management of the Historic Center of Lima (Prolima), which seeks to return to the city the splendor of its architectural, cultural and Catholic heritage, restoring emblematic monuments, including several of its historic churches.

“Prolima was created three years after Lima enrolled in the UNESCO list, that was in 1991,” said Luis Martín Bogdanovich, director of Prolima, in an interview with Ewtn News.

The Municipality assumed the commitment to protect this valuable legacy, but it was only with the formulation and approval of the master plan of the Historic Center of Lima to 2029, between 2017 and 2019, which began to work in an integral way in the restoration.

Prolima stressed that the plan It will not generate major expenses for the Municipalitybecause the works are executed as a planned public investment.

However, the prolimal approach goes beyond buildings. It is about rescuing the “historical urban landscape”, which includes not only public monuments and spaces, but also religious traditions, customs and manifestations that give identity to the city.

“We want to restore the center in an integral way. The center is not only a set of buildings, but also its processions, the way of speaking and saying things in Lima. It is all that material and immaterial heritage that we want to recover,” said the director.

Recovering historical Catholic churches

One of the most important axes of prolima work is the restoration of religious heritage. “The religious heritage of almost all the historical centers of the Christian world are their churches. They are the most beautiful monuments in which the creativity of man has been turned more and has produced the most beautiful things for God,” said Bogdanovich.

Likewise, the manager said that, when recovering a religious building, “we not only recover the material heritage, but that we propitiate the rebirth of an intangible heritage, which is finally the fervor of the people.”

He also warned that “a church that is not in good condition is a church that is closed. And a closed church is a place that a parishioner can no longer go.”

In total, at the end of this project the facades of 11 churches of the Historic Center of Lima will have been restored, including monumental lighting systems.

In January, Prolima announced the restoration of some emblematic churches for 2025: the Church Santo Cristo de las Maravillas (5.5 million soles / approximately USD 1.57 million), the church of Santiago Apostle of the Cercado (5.8 million / usd 1.65 million), the Church Our Lady of the Prado (unprotected amount) and the Church San Carlos (9.7 million / USD 2.77 million).

Among the temples that have already been restored, the Basilica and Convent of Santo Domingo stands out, whose intervention demanded 7 million soles (USD 2 million) and that is an essential part of the religious history of Lima, linked to the life of San Martín de Porres.

“We have restored integrally on the outside, with ornamental lighting, covers, bell tower, walls, crypts and atrios. It took us four years and now we are working inside, in the Camarín de la Virgen del Rosario, an exceptional and little -known beauty space,” said the architect about Santo Domingo.

It was also intervened, a few years ago, the convent of La Recoleta, in the Plaza France, where San Juan Macías lived, which had an investment of more than 2 million soles (USD 570,000). There, in the archaeological research process, a historical finding was made: “We found the original San Juan Macías goal, 40 centimeters below the current level, the same floor where he walked.”

One of the churches that has recently been the restoration is the Trinitarian Church, located in the traditional neighborhood of Barrios Altos, with a budget of 11 million soles (USD 3.14 million). The intervention included sculptures such as the coronation of the Virgin, gray wall painting and various architectural elements.

“This intervention, together with others that we will deliver this year, reflects our goal of conserving, protecting and valueing our heritage. The goal is to complete the total restoration of the temple in the coming months,” said Bogdanovich.

Bogdanovich stressed that these works help Limans rediscover their spiritual identity.

“Pope Francis, when he visited Lima, said that Peru is a creep, and this work of Prolima helps us meet those characters who lived and sanctified in this city: Santa Rosa de Lima, San Martín de Porres, San Juan Macías,” he recalled.