Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú

What makes it special

Find the Raimondi Stele first. It is a slab of polished Chavín granite almost two metres tall, carved in low relief with the Staff God, a figure that is part human, part feline, reptile and bird. In each hand it grips a staff that doubles as a San Pedro cactus.

Its carvers drew the lines to read two ways, and turned upside down the same lines become a different figure. Take a photograph of the carving and flip it on your phone to see the second image.

The Paracas mantles are the most celebrated objects in the collection, embroidered burial cloths known well beyond Peru. They belong to a textile holding of more than 40,000 pieces, whole and in fragments, running from the earliest periods to the Inca.

The museum also keeps the largest collection of pre-Hispanic human remains in the country, with funerary bundles and mummies among them. Look as well for the Crossed Hands of Kotosh, the Tello Obelisk, a large scale model of Machu Picchu, and gold, silver and copper ornaments from Kunturwasi, Paracas and Nasca.

This is Peru's oldest museum, grown from the collections of the first scientific expeditions in the country. It fills the Palacio de la Magdalena on the district's main square.

Visiting

Arriving at the Plaza Bolívar entrance, you buy your ticket at the desk and ask which rooms are open. Then go straight to the Raimondi Stele and the Paracas mantles while you are fresh.

From there, walk the archaeology halls in time order: Chavín first, then Moche, Nazca and the Inca.

Leave the Quinta de Los Libertadores for the end. This colonial house, where San Martín and Bolívar both lived, stands apart from the modern building that holds the archaeology.

Guided or on your own

Booking the museum's own guided visit gets you a guide in Spanish, English or Italian, in a group of up to 15. Email reservas-mnaahp@cultura.gob.pe well ahead of your date.

There is no English audio guide, so a guide suits you if you read little Spanish. A licensed guide you bring yourself enters on a special category and must show an accreditation document at the desk.

Tips

Load a translation app on your phone before you arrive, because most of the labels are in Spanish. Pointing the camera at a label is quicker than typing it out.

If you plan to film, or to use your images for anything beyond a personal album, that is a separate rights service. Call the collections office on (51-1) 321 5630 before your visit.

Museo Larco, the district's other leading museum, is also in Pueblo Libre, so you can pair the two in one day.