Cementerio Presbítero Matías Maestro

One of the perks of staying with a tour guide was to get some in-depth historical background on Lima. We started in the historical center at the Inquisition Museum, full of creepy mannequins carrying out colonial torture methods, and then headed to the Abolition Museum. The most interesting and photogenic part of the day, however, was the Presbítero Maestro Cemetery, which as Maciel explained, holds the remains of many war heroes, literary, musical and historical figures, and common folk who passed away after 1808, around the time that the catacombs were deemed unsanitary. 

Elementary school students looking at la Declaración de Emancipación from 1854, freeing slaves nine years before the U.S.'s 14th Amendment.

Cementerio Presbítero Matías Maestro, also a functioning museum... Coincidentally, I visited exactly one year after my grandfather, Anthony Cava, passed.

Note the Chinese-- there were many who emigrated to Peru during this time.

Many marble vault lids have been stolen over the years. The cemetery is located in Barrios Altos, a famous part of the historical center that is rich in culture yet struggles with delinquent acts.

One of many tombstones in Italian, as many emigrated to Peru during the time the cemetery was in use.

La Capilla.

Fetus

The surname Palomino is very common in Peru, causing many to assume I was Peruvian (until they heard me talk!)

A poet... I believe?

Some incredible Italian sculptures... wish I remembered the artist's name!

Romulus and Remus.

American businessman who built several major railroads in Chile and Peru, known as "Don Enrique" by the time he passed in Lima, Peru. 

Hanging out with the deceased...

Clever and sweet Mari Fe, who left flowers at many of the graves.

Maciel and Ma Fe.