Museum of the Inquisition

January 9, 1570 the Peruvian Inquisition began this like the Spanish Inquisition was an institution run by the church which sought to remove all those were guilty or supposedly guilty of crimes against the Catholic Church like heresy, witchcraft and sorcery. The main targets were people of lower class such as mestizos, women, Jews and people of African descent. 

The history of these dark times in Lima can be seen in the museum located just off Abancay Avenue and is called Museo del Congreso y de la Inquisición (Museum of Congress and Inquisition). This building was the seat of the Peruvian Inquisition from 1584 to 1810, the Peruvian Inquisition came to an end in 1813 by virtue of a Cortes decree however it came back to a lesser degree in 1815 till its final demise shortly after. 

The role of this building changed many times before it opened its doors to the public as museum on the 26th of July 1968.  This museum is open from Monday to Sunday 9 am till 5 pm and there is a free guided tour. So what will you expect to find here?

Well as soon as you enter the museum you will be taken into the “Hearing Room” here prisoners were sentenced and after this building changed roles it became a seat of national meetings. One of the most iconic pieces of this room in is the ceiling which is all hand crafted from 30 000 pieces of mahogany. Now as you travel through the different rooms you will see a sudden changes that change I mean from the bureaucratic setting to the grim. 

You will be taken through rooms that display numerous original contraptions that were used to the extract confessions from the prisoners that were sent there.  Now it is said that torture was not as brutal as it is played out to be, in many cases a doctor was present, no blood was allowed to be spilt and each session was limited to 15 minutes. 

Now a warning for tall people like myself I found myself crouching through the area of the old dungeons so be careful with your head, this place displays two kinds of dungeons ones that are open and were for prisoners that were “fairly” judged and there are the secret ones that you can still see today these were for prisoners who really did not know why they were imprisoned, some of these prisoners were held for weeks, month and even years.

Another strange and usual piece of this museum is the pre-Hispanic aqueduct that was discovered and is located in a small room.

This museum is not all about the grim history of torture but within the same museum is the history of congress. Here you will be taken on a tour which will explain how the political scene of Peru changed through the years to the present moment.  

I would recommend this museum to anyone it is free and it is well worth the time and you can take all the pictures you wish here.