About Iglesia y Convento de La Recoleta
It is neoclassical where the others are baroque, built in pale stone with twin bell towers either side of a plain front, set back behind railings. The restraint is the point of comparison. Put beside the carved density of the Belén facade a few streets away, it shows how much range the local workshops had and how quickly the taste changed. At night it is floodlit above a busy road, and the towers carry the light well.
Colonial Cajamarca went up on Inca foundations using Inca stone, and the churches are where that is easiest to see. The whole historic centre is a national monument, listed by UNESCO in 1986 as a Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Americas, and La Recoleta is part of that designation.
An hour, year-round, at 2,750 metres and walkable from the Plaza de Armas. It is a working church rather than a museum, so access to the interior depends on services and on the day; the exterior and the setting are the substance of a short visit in any case. Worth folding into a circuit of the centre rather than making a trip for on its own.
A neoclassical stone church a few blocks off the main square, quieter than the central temples.
La Recoleta is a church and convent a few blocks off the main square, and it is the quietest of the colonial buildings in the centre. That is most of its appeal: the cathedral and Belén draw the visitors, and this one is generally just open.
Quick Facts
- Allow
- 1 hour
- Best time:
- Year-round
- Elevation:
- 2,750 m
- Region:
- Cajamarca
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