In the vibrant Center of Lima, stands the old Convent of the Conceptiona site that contains more than four centuries of history. Founded in 1573 by Inés Muñoz during the viceregal era, this building became a center of religious life of the Conceptionist order and an emblem of the history of the Peruvian capital.
The walls of the convent, impregnated with faith and tradition, have been silent witnesses of the incessant change of eras and the milestones that have defined the spirit of the city. However, in the constant flow of modernity, the Convent of the Conception has been profoundly transformed. Today, where once prayers resounded, the hustle and bustle of a mall. This change reflects the adaptation of colonial architecture to new urban needs, merging the past with the present.
The site, which was a cloister dedicated to contemplative life, is now presented as a space where commerce and daily life in Lima take center stage. This reconversion has made it possible to preserve and give a new use to the architectural heritageensuring its conservation and allowing citizens and visitors to continue enjoying a part of Lima’s rich history.
Was Inés Muñoza woman born into a humble Andalusian peasant family who never imagined that her life would take such a dramatic and transcendental turn. Without knowing how to read or write, he embarked on an extraordinary destiny by marrying Francisco Martín de Alcántara, maternal half-brother of the famous conqueror Francisco Pizarro. Together they embarked on the adventure that would forever change the destiny of America: Pizarro’s expedition.
The approach to Pizarro gave them a privileged position in the new world. The chronicle of Bernabé Cobo “History of the Foundation of Lima” paints a vivid portrait of Inés’s life in Peru, where, along with Francisco Martín, she initially enjoyed a comfortable existence, rewarded with the encomiendas that provided status and wealth.
Inés was responsible for the education and protection of Pizarro’s children, a work that would intensify after the tragic day of June 26, 1541, when both Pizarro and her husband, Francisco Martín, fell at the hands of the Almagris insurgents.
Wrapped in mourning, Inés’s resilience was manifested when she rebuilt her life by remarrying with Antonio de Ribera, a distinguished member of the Cabildo of Lima and Knight of the Order of Santiago. Their union was blessed with a son: Antonio de Ribera, “the Young Man”.
The young man inherited the family estates upon the death of his father. However, fortune did not smile for long; The waste and excesses caused him to squander his paternal inheritance and he died without children after fighting a long illness.
In a moving act of faith and memory, Inés Muñoz de Ribera, a widow marked by loss and adversity, decides to mark her legacy in the City of Kings through the founding of a Monastery dedicated to Our Lady of the Conception. This is how Liliana Pérez tells it in her profound article “Inés Muñoz de Ribera, emigrant to the Indies”, unraveling the reasons that prompted her to build a spiritual refuge after the death of her only legitimate son.
Moved by a spirit of charity and with the desire to help “many daughters of poor conquistadors” who wandered the streets of Lima in conditions of “risks and needsInés approaches the end of her life with devotion.
He July 2, 1573, An octogenarian Inés approaches Archbishop Fray Jerónimo de Loayza with a firm proposal: the creation of a monastery in which, in addition to offering service to God, she herself longed to shelter.
The solemnity materialized on September 15 of that same year, when, before the Notary Francisco de la Vega, the document is sealed foundational. The Monastery of the Conception Thus, it emerged not only as an act of faith, but also as an institution of welcome and protection for the most disadvantaged young women of the time.
Generous in her final years, Inés granted the monastery a significant heritageamong which its homes in the main square, the “Lost Garden” and other valuable rural properties stand out. The monastery, more than a simple building, becomes the symbol of a heritage, that of a woman who, faced with pain and loneliness, decides to forge a sanctuary of hope and help in the heart of Lima.
Since the arrival of the Spanish, the brand new City of the Kings did not have a central market to organize the commercial maelstrom, which led to palpable disorder on its exchange routes.
To alleviate this chaos, the viceregal administration tried to concentrate the bustling commerce in emblematic squares such as Plaza Mayor, San Francisco and Inquisición – today Plaza Bolívar. These organizational attempts sought to bring together merchants and suppliers, thus facilitating the commercial activity and daily life of the people of Lima.
Despite notable efforts, the city kept crying out for a more structured solution, a cry that found echo in the vision of President Ramón Castilla. With a reformist spirit, he proposed erecting a unified market that served as the epicenter for Lima’s commercial exchange. But for this, space was needed; a space that would collide with ecclesiastical interests.
This reformist ambition involved the controversial expropriation of land belonging to the Concepción monastery, at a time when the power of the Church had diminished, as the historian Juan José Pacheco de Prolima commented:
“Since Independence, the convent lost power and many of its priests. It was getting emptier and emptier. The State took advantage of those places to build public buildings.”
In a bold move, on March 7, 1847, the demolition of part of the convent began; from Abancay Avenue to Andahuaylas Jirón, but the orchard and garden were preserved to make way for the new bazaar. Currently this place is the well-known Central Market, also called Grand Marshal Ramón Castilla.
In the heart of Lima, right on Abancay Avenue, we find ‘La Concepción’, a modern shopping center that lives to the rhythm of one of the most active areas of Cercado. But this place was not always a meeting point for shopping and walks; Before, on that same land, the Convent of the Immaculate Conceptiona site full of tradition and prayer that formed an important part of the city’s history.
Despite the changes and development of the area, a part of the convent managed to survive for a time, maintaining its religious function and its church, as a small corner of peace in the middle of the growing city. However, there came a time in the middle of the 20th century when the expanding Lima needed more space, and With the expansion of Abancay Avenue, that little piece of history had to disappear.
Currently, the ‘La Concepción’ shopping center located at 325 Abancay Avenue does not forget its roots. It is named in memory of the old convent, as a tribute to its religious and cultural past. Although the convent is no longer physically there, its spirit lives on in the name of the shopping center and in the memories of the community of Lima.