Displays popular art covering the ayacucheño (natives of Ayacucho) spectrum – silverwork, rug- and tapestry-weaving, stone and woodcarvings, ceramics (model churches are especially popular) and the famous retablos (ornamental religious dioramas). The latter are colorful wooden boxes varying in size and containing intricate papier-mâché models: Peruvian rural scenes or the nativity are favorites, but interesting ones with political or social commentary can be seen here. Photographs show how Ayacucho changed during the 20th century. Opening hours here change almost as frequently.
Museo de Arte Popular
Top choice in Ayacucho
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.09 MILES
This spectacular 17th-century cathedral on the Plaza de Armas has a religious-art museum inside. The moody facade doesn’t quite prepare you for the…
0.8 MILES
Ayacucho’s most haunting museum, remembers the impact the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) had on Peru in the city that was most deeply affected by the…
7.12 MILES
Sprawling for several kilometers along a cactus-forested roadside are the extensive ruins of Wari, the capital of the eponymous empire, which predated the…
Casa Museo Joaquín López Antay
0.35 MILES
This captivating little museum is really part art gallery and part an explanation of the process of retablo making. Retablos, ornamental, originally…
0.19 MILES
Officially a restaurant, this surreal Aladdin's Cave is more a museum of curios than anything else, for the owner is primarily a collector of magical…
Iglesia de San Francisco de Asis
0.2 MILES
Visually striking stone church containing retablos (ornamental religious dioramas) and an attractive adjoining convent dating to the 17th century. Located…
0.04 MILES
One of the prettiest plazas in the Central Andes, flanked by many gorgeous mansions, including the Prefectura. Ask at the tourist office for details on…
Museo Arqueológico Hipólito Unanue
0.99 MILES
Wari ceramics make up most of the small exhibition here, along with relics from the region’s other various civilizations. The museum buildings are set in…
Nearby Ayacucho attractions
0.04 MILES
One of the prettiest plazas in the Central Andes, flanked by many gorgeous mansions, including the Prefectura. Ask at the tourist office for details on…
0.06 MILES
Most of Ayacucho's old mansions are now mainly political offices and can be visited, usually during business hours. These offices of the department of…
0.06 MILES
This church has two fine bell towers and, in the body of the structure supporting them, striking embossings and motifs. It sits on the site of its 1605…
4. Centro Turístico Cultural San Cristóbal
0.07 MILES
This remodeled colonial building's courtyard has been transformed into a hip little mall. Here you’ll find bars, restaurants and coffee shops, along with…
0.09 MILES
This spectacular 17th-century cathedral on the Plaza de Armas has a religious-art museum inside. The moody facade doesn’t quite prepare you for the…
6. Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula
0.11 MILES
This white two-towered church dating from 1716 has interesting floral flourishes near the cupolas of its bell towers.
0.13 MILES
A square of shops and restaurants tucked back from the pedestrian street, with a better quality of establishments than the similar Centro Turístico…
0.13 MILES
This church, built in the mid-16th century, is full of colonial art and has one of Peru’s oldest convents attached, dating from the same period.