Museum of the Inquisition and Congress. Lima - PERU

Direccion: Plaza Bolivar, Jiron Juni­n
Phone: +51 1 311-7777
Web: www.congreso.gob.pe/participacion/museo/

The Museum of the Inquisition and the Congress is a Peruvian museum, which is located in the former premises of the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Lima. Its mission is to investigate, preserve, exhibit and disseminate the history of the Congress of the Republic and the Cultural Heritage under his charge to strengthen the parliamentary institutional culture and favor the congressional work and the civic and democratic participation of citizens.

The building, whose antiquity goes back to the time of the foundation of the city, has the condition of National Monument, declared as such through the R.S. N ° 2900-72-ED, of December 28, 1972. The property is part of the cultural heritage of the country and of humanity. In addition, it has been linked to the Congress of the Republic since the days of the first Constituent Congress of Peru, when its members met in its rooms, and many deputies stayed there. Then it was the seat of the National Senate until 1939, the year in which said Chamber was moved to the Legislative Palace. Shortly thereafter, the Public Library of the Chamber of Deputies (1943-1996) and, finally, the Museum of Congress (1968-present) functioned in the same environments.

Its Greco-Roman architecture building dates back to 1570. In its facade you can see 6 imposing columns that welcome the museum.

The Holy Inquisition was completely abolished in Peru in 1820.

Its interior conserves the same environments in which the inquisition process was carried out, highlighting the Audience Room (where the members of the Tribunal met), with a coffered ceiling in the ceiling, composed of more than 30,000 carved pieces. of mahogany, and the so-called "Door of the Secret", which led to the private environment of the Grand Inquisitor; the Chamber of Torment, the area of ​​secret prisons or underground dungeons, the library of the Inquisition (which currently functions as the Library of Congress), among other environments.