Piura travel guide

Standing on the Plaza de Armas is the cathedral, with gold-covered altar and paintings by Ignacio Merino. A few blocks away at Lima y Callao is the San Francisco church, where the city’s independence from Spain was declared on 4 January 1821, nearly eight months before Lima. The church was being completely rebuilt in 2002.

The church of María Auxiliadora stands on a small plaza on Libertad, near Avenida Sánchez Cerro. Across the plaza is the Museo de Arte Religioso. San Sebastián, on Tacna y Moquegua, is also worth seeing. The birthplace of Admiral Miguel Grau, hero of the War of the Pacific with Chile, is Casa Museo Grau (Jr Tacna 662, opposite the Centro Cívico) Mon-Fri 0800-1300, 1530-1800, free. It has been opened as a museum and contains a model of the Huáscar, the largest Peruvian warship in the War of the Pacific, which was built in Britain. It also contains interesting old photographs.

The Museo Municipal Vicús (Sullana, near Huánuco, Mon-Sat 0800-2200, Sun 0800-1200) includes 60 gold artefacts from the local Vicus culture. It also has an art section. Local craftwork is sold at the Mercado Modelo. The market on Sánchez Cerro is good for fruit.