116 MONASTIC ESTABLISHMENTS. [1839. 



quadras. Its church, next in size to the cathedral, is deco- 

 rated with great splendor. The convent of Santo Domingo 

 is probably the wealthiest in Peru, — its yearly revenue, de- 

 rived mostly from the ground-rents of houses in Lima, exceed- 

 ing seventy thousand dollars. The steeple of the church of 

 Santo Domingo is the loftiest in the city ; it is 188 feet high, 

 and is distinctly visible at the distance of three leagues. The 

 interior of the church is gorgeously adorned, and its grand 

 altar is almost as splendid as that of the cathedral. 



There are sixteen nunneries in Lima, the largest of which 

 is the Monasterio de la Concepcion : it has an annual revenue 

 of upwards of one hundred thousand dollars, bat is more 

 celebrated for its wealth, than for the piety or vestal perfect- 

 ness of its inmates. There are several establishments, how- 

 ever, in which the conventual rules are rigidly observed. 



In addition to the convents and nunneries, there are beate- 

 rios, which pious women who desire to lead a cloistered life 

 without taking the veil may enter and quit at pleasure ; and 

 also, edsas de cxercicio, into which females retire during Lent, 

 to perform nets of penance. For the other sex, there are 

 cells in the convent of Recoleto. 



Lima also possesses eleven public hospitals and two found- 

 ling asylums. The two largest hospitals, San Andres and 

 Santa Aria, contain nearly four hundred beds each. At- 

 tached to San Andres is a botanic garden, and adjoining it is 

 the medical college of San Fernando, established in 1809. 



The second large square in the city is the public market- 

 place. Before the war of Independence it was known as the 

 Plaza de la Inquisition; it is now called the Plazucla de. 

 la Independencia. On this square are the Palace of the In- 

 quisition, now occupied as a jail and a store-house for provi- 

 sions, and the University. The latter was founded under a 

 decree of Charles V, dated in 1551. The exterior of the 

 building is by no means imposing, but it has a spacious 

 quadrangular court, entered by a lofty door, along the sides 

 of which are pillared corridors. On the walls of the corri- 

 dors there are allegorical paintings in fresco, representing the 



