10/18: Creepy Catacombs in Lima's San Francisco Monastery

We had spent most of the day wandering around Lima's Centro Historico to get a sense of the city and especially many of its beautiful colonial churches. I ended the last post by recounting our visit to the stupendous Santo Domingo Church and Monastery but there was one more church we saw before calling it a day on October 18th: San Francisco Church and Convent.

The church and monastery were part of the Historic Center which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991. They were blessed in 1673 and completed in 1674. The church, known for its Spanish Baroque architecture, had a granite carved entryway that would later influence other churches.

What was particularly notable to me when we entered were the vaults of the central and two side naves as they were painted in mudejar style: a mix of Moorish and Spanish designs.

A guide told us skylights were built in the church to provide natural light because it was too dangerous to use torches when it was constructed.

As with the other churches we saw that day in Lima, the San Francisco Church had many absolutely spectacular chapels on each side of the naves.

We would soon be discovering the crypts that lay below the church!

We learned that monasteries were always designed for urban environments so that members of the community would never lose contact with their family and friends. In this St. Francis of Assisi entrance, the Franciscan friars used this space to communicate with the outside world and schedule visits.

The glazed tiles were from Seville, Spain and dated from the 1620s.

The monastery's Library is world-renowned as it possessed about 25,000 antique texts, some of them predating the Spanish Conquest. Some notable books were the first Spanish dictionary published by the Royal Spanish Academy and a copy of the Bible from 1571- 1572 printed in Antwerp. The library also contained thousands of books from the 20th century in different languages on subjects ranging from theology, biology, philosophy, etc.

The intricately carved choir stalls were simply beautiful and amazing - adjectives I've so often used but suffice again.

One of the many hallways the guide lead us down with more of the centuries-old tiles from Seville adorning the walls:

When we had been in the Santo Domingo Monastery just prior to touring the San Francisco Monastery, we had toured a Chapter Room but I didn't understand what it was until we came here. The guide said the room was used to hold meetings where the religious communities made important decisions like chapter elections or where they received prelates. Above the seats were canvases of portraits of different Franciscan theologians and doctors.

The Main Cloister in monasteries consisted of a patio that had an orchard and functioned as a closed space. Around it were always a Chapter Room and common rooms. Above the Spanish tiles were a series of 39 oil paintings called 'The Life of St. Francis.'

In monasteries, the Refectory or dining hall was designed so the community could share food. The friars sat on benches or tables around the room while another member read Bible passages at a pulpit in the center of the room. A painting of The Last Supper was usually found on the wall.

In this representation of The Last Supper painted in 1656, a round table used instead of the normal rectangular one in most images. Also peculiar was the Devil hovering besides Judas. The disciples were shown eating a meal of cuy or guinea pig typical of Peru and drinking chicha, instead of wine, from gold Inka cups called keros. Chica, a drink consumed by Inca people and indigenous groups, was made from fermented corn. We’d first tried it in Bogota on a walking tour.

The children symbolized innocence in the painting.

The ivory cross in the Sacristy came from the Philippines.

The Crypts of San Francisco have become famous as 'the catacombs' which contained 25,000 bodies until 1821 as people chose to be buried there to be closer to God, according to our tour guide.

Our travel guide, however, had a different interpretation stating the catacombs was a public cemetery where only slaves, servants and others without money were buried until 1821 as rich citizens were usually buried in their home chapels.

Note: The following text and photos may make you squeamish because of the content.

Coffins were placed on top of one another, separated by soil and hot lime which accelerated the process of decomposition and avoided the spread of diseases and epidemics as well as bad odors.

Even knowing in advance what we would see in the catacombs couldn't prepare me for the sight of all the neatly stacked bones and I don't think of myself as particularly squeamish.

In 1947, the boarded-up galleries and passages were opened and work started on their excavation, cleaning and illumination. In 1950, the catacombs were officially opened to the public. The guide mentioned the total area of the crypts has not yet been determined!

Throughout the catacombs, no complete bodies were ever found - only skulls, femurs and tibias as they are the most resistant parts of the human body. There were also pits or wells containing bones that were ten meters deep!

After 1821, the head of the Franciscans ordered that people be buried in cemeteries outside the church.

The tunnel and bricks were all original to the 17th century. The limestone and calcium were added later.

The tour of the San Francisco monastery and the catacombs had been engrossing if creepy. I remember being relived coming up out of the crypts into the fresh air of the early evening and being so thankful Steven and I were alive to enjoy another day together!