Basilica and Convent of La Merced, Cusco
Basílica de la Merced
A Baroque monastery in the old town with an elegant cloister and a gilded monstrance encrusted with pearls and gemstones.
The Basilica and Monastery of La Merced lie one block southwest of Plaza de Armas. The surviving buildings were rebuilt after the major earthquake of 1650. Its two-story cloister, which blends Renaissance and Baroque styles, is considered one of the most beautiful colonial cloisters in the Americas, and its walls are hung with paintings of the Cusco school. The monastery treasury holds a gold monstrance about 1.3 meters tall, set with more than a thousand pearls and gems. It is the monastery's crowning treasure. Inside the church are buried the Spanish conquistadors Diego de Almagro and Gonzalo Pizarro. A ticket is required, and a visit takes about 45 minutes.
Opening hours
About 08:00–17:00 (closed Sundays)
Nearby sights
- Plaza de Armas, Cusco
- Church of the Society of Jesus, Cusco
- Cusco Cathedral
- Museo Machu Picchu – Casa Concha
- Museo Inka
- Twelve-Angled Stone & Hatun Rumiyoc Street
- Museum of Pre-Columbian Art (MAP)
- San Pedro Market