In Lima’s Rímac district, a few streets north of the historic centre, the Plaza de Acho stands as a landmark of the city’s colonial-era expansion. It opened on 30 January 1766 and is still used for bullfighting, while its interior also houses the Museo Taurino. The arena’s age makes it easy to reduce it to a record or a single tradition. A closer visit reveals a layered place: an eighteenth-century public venue, a repository of bullfighting objects and a working site whose access depends on the current event calendar. For travelers, that distinction is practical as well as historical.
The Plaza de Acho was established when Lima’s bullfights moved from temporary enclosures toward a permanent arena. Its opening in 1766 came during the viceroyalty of Manuel de Amat y Juniet and helped make the Rímac a setting for public gatherings beyond the city’s central square. Today the Sociedad de Beneficencia de Lima Metropolitana, the institution responsible for the property, describes Acho as a historic monument and dates its inauguration to 30 January 1766. The current venue website presents it as the oldest bullring in the Americas; the Beneficencia describes it as the world’s third oldest, a ranking that depends on which kinds of historic arenas are counted.
