A few blocks from Lima's Plaza Mayor, the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco forms one of the most recognizable religious ensembles in the Peruvian capital. Its yellow façade, twin towers and stone portal introduce a complex that combines a historic church, convent, cloisters, library, religious art and the underground burial spaces popularly known as the catacombs of Lima.
San Francisco is one of the monuments that helps explain why the Historic Centre of Lima was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The organization specifically recognizes the Convent of San Francisco as part of the exceptional architectural heritage created when Lima became the political, administrative, religious and economic center of Spanish South America.
