Deathly catacombs

The most interesting thing in Lima that I went to was the Convento de San Fransisco (monastery/church). Unfortunately we could not take any photos.

I found that the most exciting thing there was the catacombs. Catacombs are underground tunnels underneath a church. They contain deep tombs with nothing covering the top. This was where rich people were buried before they had cemeteries. In Convento de San Fransisco the tombs were dug four meters down with human bodies stacked one on top of the other right to the top! There was also a well where there was a mural of bones and skulls in a circle with little holes on the side. (In some of the holes there was a skull). Apart from the fact that you were looking at dead people’s bodies it was actually quite pretty.

It may seem surprising but there are actually still monks living in the monastery. They live behind huge metal doors and barely speak to anyone. Another thing that we saw was some amazing tiles. They were decorated with a variety of different colours: blue, yellow, white and red. It had the year that it was made specially put on to the tiles. It also has a library with books thousands of years old and a really old and big book the choir used to sing out of. The notes were very different from the ones we have now.