Tour to two major plazas and catacombs

Plaza Mayor, Plaza José de San Martín, Basilica and Convent de San Francisco, and catacombs.

There was a lot of rich history and at one point, Michael shares that in the US Navy, there is a submarine named after Simon Bolívar, who is considered the liberator for Peru’s independence.

The catacombs underneath the church is estimated in the hundreds of thousands. No pictures were allowed to be taken there so I can only describe it and its significance in history as was explained to us.

The individuals buried there generally had higher means and wanted to be buried closer to God, or get to heaven quicker! Due to the size of bones, it was determined by archeologists these were larger taller people, hence mostly Spaniards or caretakers of the dead, or monks. The Incan community and natives were smaller people and did not have a lot of means to be buried there.

There are still monks today who opt to be buried there, with the most recent being 3 months ago, while the public can no longer be buried there.

During a procession, with horse drawn wagons carrying the deceased loved one to the church, families with means would hire a professional “cryer.”

We saw a lot of bones, skulls, etc. underneath, which was a maze and we had to stay with our group on a specific path since it’s easy to get lost.

The common folk and natives were buried at a cemetery on the outer areas of town.

Historically, the smell was problematic hence using incense in the church was a solution and is still in use today.

It was a dangerous job, to bury and carry the deceased and place them below, since contagious diseases killed people at that time and there were no vaccines. To this day, there are witch doctors and shaman who request human bones for their services so there’s been a problem with bones being taken in the past.Read more