114 PUBLIC BUILDINGS. [1S39. 



on the lofty spires, the swelling domes, and splendid facades, 

 rising everywhere around him, and he then begins really to 

 appreciate the fact, that he is treading on " the silver soil of 

 Peru." 



The great square forms a quadrangle, each side of which 

 is 510 feet long. It is unpaved, but the ground is covered 

 with fine sand. From each of the four corners run two 

 handsome streets, at right angles to one another. In the 

 centre of the Plaza, is a massive bronze fountain, of three 

 basins, forty feet high, and raised on a level table of masonry 

 forty feet on each side. From the middle basin rises a pil- 

 lar, surmounted by a figure of Fame, represented in the 

 altitude of spouting the water from her trumpet. In the 

 other basins, the water is thrown from the mouths of four 

 lions. The pillar and figures were cast in 1650, by the 

 order of the then reigning viceroy, Count de Salvatierra. 



On the north side of the square, is the government palace, 

 a mean unsightly structure, formerly the residence of the 

 viceroys, but now appropriated to the courts of justice, and 

 # other government offices. It is a square building, and the 

 front facing the Plaza is disfigured by a long range of shops, 

 called La Rivera, above which is a balcony. On the west 

 side of the square, are the Cabildo, or senate-house, and the 

 city jail ; and on the south there is a range of private dwell- 

 ings, with balconies looking upon the Plaza. The cathe- 

 dral and the archbishop's palace occupy the east side of the 

 square. The latter has a fine facade, but the former is, by 

 far, the most imposing edifice in Lima. The foundation 

 stone of the cathedral was laid by Pizarro on the 18th of 

 January, 1534 : ninety years elapsed, however, before its 

 completion, and it was finally consecrated, with great pomp 

 ami ceremony, on the 19th of October, 1625. The remains 

 of its founder were deposited beneath its walls. 



This edifice has a front of 186 feet, and is 320 deep. At 

 either corner, in front, there is an octagonal tower, 200 feet 

 high, resting on a base elevated 40 feet above the ground. 

 The multitudinous ornaments profusely scattered in and 



