Downtown Lima: filming in the revamped Historic Center
Lima's Historic Center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is being restored landmark by landmark, and it is one of the most cinematic locations in South America.
For years, downtown Lima was overlooked. That is changing. Under the city's Master Plan for the Historic Center, colonial churches and convents are being restored, streets are being pedestrianized and new heritage-style lighting is going in around the main plazas. The result is a district that looks the way it did in its prime, minutes from the hotels and studios of modern Lima.
Key locations
Convent of Santo Domingo. One of Lima's oldest religious complexes. Its restored 16th-century bell tower rises over cloisters lined with arches, tiled walls, wooden galleries and formal gardens. It works for period drama, weddings, fashion and quiet, controlled interiors.
Casa de Osambela, Jirón Conde de Superunda. Built between 1803 and 1805 by the merchant Martín de Osambela. Its turquoise façade carries five carved wooden balconies and a rooftop mirador crowned by a dome. The pedestrian street in front gives a clean, symmetrical frame with no traffic.
Teatro Municipal de Lima. A grand theater with a classical stone façade, arched loggias and iron lamps, set on its own paved plaza. It suits night exteriors, period pieces and premieres.
Colonial balconies and streets. Lima is known for its carved wooden balconies, and the Historic Center has many of them on view. Narrow streets, cobbles and domed churches fill the background in almost any direction.
What downtown Lima offers a production
- Period architecture from the colonial and republican eras in a few walkable blocks
- Pedestrian streets that are easier to control than open traffic
- Plazas and wide exteriors for crowd scenes and drone work, subject to permits
- Hotels, catering and equipment rental close by
