Peru Archives and Libraries
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- Archives collect and preserve original documents of organizations such as churches or governments. Libraries generally collect published sources such as books, maps, and microfilm.
- If you plan to visit a repository, contact them and ask for information about their collection, hours, services, and fees. Ask if they require you to have a reader’s ticket (a paper indicating you are a responsible researcher) to view the records, and ask how to obtain one.
- Although the records you need may be in an archive or library, the Family History Library may have printed or microfilmed copies of them.
Archives
National Archives
National Archives of Peru (Archivo General de la Nación)
Palacio de Justicia
Jirón Manuel Cuadros s/n
Casilla No. 3124
Cercado de Lima
Lima 1
Telephone: 511 426 7221
Website
Facebook
Regional Archives
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Regional Archive of Amazonas (Archivo Regional de Amazonas) Regional Archive of Ancash (Archivo Regional de Ancash) Regional Archive of Apurímac (Archivo Regional de Apurímac) Regional Archive of Arequipa (Archivo Regional de Arequipa) Regional Archive of Ayacucho (Archivo Regional de Ayacucho) Regional Archive of Cajamarca (Archivo Regional de Cajamarca) Regional Archive of Callao (Archivo Regional de Callao) Regional Archive of Cusco (Archivo Regional de Cuzco) Regional Archive of Huancavelica (Archivo Regional de Huancavelica) Regional Archive of Huánuco (Archivo Regional de Huánuco) Regional Archive of Ica (Archivo Regional de Ica) Regional Archive of Junín (Archivo Regional de Junín) Regional Archive of Lambayeque (Archivo Regional de Lambayeque) |
Regional Archive of La Libertad (Archivo Regional de La Libertad) Regional Archive of Lima (Archivo Regional de Lima) Regional Archive of Loreto (Archivo Regional de Loreto) Regional Archive of Madre de Dios (Archivo Regional de Madre de Dios) Regional Archive of Moquegua (Archivo Regional de Moquegua) Regional Archive of Pasco (Archivo Regional de Pasco) Regional Archive of Piura (Archivo Regional de Piura) Regional Archive of Puno (Archivo Regional de Puno) Regional Archive of San Martín (Archivo Regional de San Martín) Regional Archive of Tacna (Archivo Regional de Tacna) Subregional Archive of Bajo Mayo (Archivo Subregional Bajo Mayo - Tarapoto) Regional Archive of Tumbes (Archivo Regional de Tumbes) Regional Archive of Ucayali (Archivo Regional de Ucayali) |
Municipal Archives
All records created by local governments in Peru, including birth, death, and marriage records, are kept in municipal offices. These offices are comparable to county courthouses and town halls in the United States. Copies of the municipal records are available to the public. For more information about these offices and their records, see Peru Civil Registration.
These archives also house the Libros de Cabildos (minute books), which contain information about local administration, founding of towns, commercial life, markets, sanitation, administration of justice, and social relations. The municipal records of the town of Huamanga are housed in the National Library.
You can get information about the records kept at a particular municipality by writing to the municipal office. See Spanish Letter Writing Guide for instructions on how to write for genealogical information.
Municipal Library and Historical Archive of Lima (Archivo de la Municipalidad de Lima)
Jirón Conde de Superunda 141
Cercado de Lima 15001
Telephone: 51 63 21540/51 13151540
Email: library@munlima.gob.pe
Website: Archive of the Provincial Municipality of Lima (Peru)
Website #2: Historical Archive
Website #3: Archive of the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima
Piura Municipal Central Archive (Archivo Histórico de la Municipalidad de Piura)
Jr. Ayacucho 377 - Basement of the Municipality
Telephone: 51 73 355899/73 307775
Email: jcornejo@munipiura.gob.pe
Website: Archive of the Municipality of Piura
Website #2: Archivo Central Municipalidad De Piura
Website #3: Archive of the Provincial Municipality of Piura (Peru)
Church Archives
The Catholic Church has gathered the early church records from the dioceses into a centralized archive. Six of Lima's seven parishes store their pre-1900 records in the Archive of the Archbishopric of Lima (Archivo Arzobispal de Lima).
Archive of the Archbishopric of Lima (Archivo Arzobispal de Lima)
Calle Luis Espejo 1064
Cercado de Lima 15034
Telephone: 51 471-4738
Email: lagaguti@terra.com.pe
Website: Archbishop Archives of Lima
Website #2: Archbishop Archive of Lima
Website #3: Archive of the Bishop of Huacho
Website #4: Archivo del Arzobispado de Lima (Peru)
- The Archive of the Archbishop of Lima has documentation since 1543 on visitations (visitas), holy works (obras pias), tithing (diezmos), property, and divorce. Few guides, indexes, or inventories have been published, but in the archive there are several that can be used on site. For information about the archive, see: Vargas Ugarte,Rubén, S.J. “El Archivo Arzobispal de Lima,” in Handbook of Latin American Studies, 1936. (Cambridge, Mass.: 1937), 443–48. Only a few of the records of the Archive of the Archbishop of Lima have been indexed, and most of the indexes remain unpublished. Parish records, particularly baptisms, are the most likely to be indexed. Additionally, there are eight volumes of indexes of marriage documents (expedientes matrimoniales). More recent Catholic parish records are kept at the local parish. The diocese keeps the records of parishes that no longer exist. You may write to local parishes and church archives for information. To obtain 20th century documents, you must visit the parish offices and pay a fee.
See Peru Church Directories, Peru Church History, and Peru Church Records for more information.
Libraries
Biblioteca de Barranco - Municipalidad de Barranco
Pedro de Osma
Barranco 15063
Av. San Martín S / N, Parque Municipal
Barranco, Lima
Telephone: 51 1 2036730/719-2041/719-2046
Email: consultations@munibarranco.gob.pe
Email #2: webmaster@munibarranco.gob.pe
Website: Manuel Beingolea Library
Website #2: Biblioteca Municipal, Barranco
Website #3: Biblioteca Municipal de Barranco
Bibliotecas Municipales - Municipalidad de Miraflores
Av. Larco 770
Miraflores
Lima 18
Telephone: 51 6177261 / 6177260
Email: biblioteca@miraflores.gob.pe
Website: Bibliotecas Municipales
Website #2: Bibliotecas Municipales de Miraflores
Website #3: Biblioteca Ricardo Palma
Bibliometro de Lima sede Central Norte
Estacion Central Lc 201
Cercado de Lima 15001
Website: Red de bibliotecas Lima Lee
Great Public Library of Lima
Av. Abancay cuadra 4, Cercado de Lima 15001
Telephone: 51 1 5136900
Website: Great Public Library of Lima
Municipal Library of Ica (Biblioteca Municipal de Ica)
Calle Acacias 194
San Isidro, Ica 11001
Telephone: 51 239246/51 977 832 518
Email: bibliotecasanmartin.ica@hotmail.com
Website: Municipal Library of Ica
Website #2: Biblioteca Municipal "Jose de San Martin" - Ica
Municipal Library "Santa Cruz"
Lima 18, Calle Mariano Melgar 247
Miraflores
Telephone: 51 1 6177106
National Library of Peru(Biblioteca Nacional)
Av. De La Poesía 160, San Borja 15034
Telephone: 51 1 5136900 - Annex 7000
Email: jefatura@binape.gob.pe
Website: Peru National Library
- The National Library has several large collections that are of particular interest to family historians. It is one of the main repositories for primary documents relating to the military. It has one of the most thorough collections of imprints dating from the independence and republican periods, and has extensive collections of pamphlets and memorias. Other documents of interest are land grants (encomiendas), judicial records (judiciales), succession rights (mayorazgos), chaplaincy records (capellanías), chieftainship records (cacicazgos), immovable property of Lima (propiedad inmóvil de Lima), dowries (dotes), parish registers (registros parroquiales), town council minutes (actas de cabildo), and books of the orders and decrees (libros de cédulas y proviciones). The National Library also has registers of the notaries (escribanos) of Lima, Arequipa, and Cuzco.
- The National Library contains nine rooms where material for various subjects are stored. The collection of the Hall of Research (Sala de Investigaciones) is very diverse and can be accessed through two card catalogs, one arranged by subject and the other chronologically. A fire in 1943 destroyed a large part of the manuscript collection, but following the catastrophe the surviving documents were thoroughly cataloged.
Public Library Station - Breña
Jr. Aija y Manoa N ° 599 - Urb. Chacra Colorada
Telephone: 01-5136900 annex 8510
Website: Peru National Library
Public Library Station - Comas
Av. Las Palmeras S / N - Urb. Repartición (Parque Ricardo Palma)
Telephone: 01-5136900 annex 8514
Website: Peru National Library
Public Library Station - El Agustino
Jr. José Quiñones S / N - Urb. Corporación (Parque Triangular)
Telephone: 01-5136900 annex 8513
Website: Peru National Library
Public Library Station - La Victoria
Jr. Giribaldi S / N block 11 (Parque San German), height block 14 of Av. México
Telephone: 01-5136900 annex 8511
Website: Peru National Library
Public Library Station - Rimac
Av. Felipe Arancibia block 2 s / n (Ex-Tarapacá) - Rímac
Telephone: 01-5136900 annex 8512
Website: Peru National Library
Pukllasunchis Association Library (Biblioteca Asociación Pukllasunchis)
563 Awaqpinta Street
Ahuacpinta, Cusco 08002
Telephone: 51 84 243853
Email: julit600@hotmail.com
Website: Association Pukllasunchis
Museums
Lima Metropolitan Museum (Museo Metropolitano de Lima)
Av. 28 Julio with Av. Garcilaso de la Vega, Lima - Parque de la Exposicion, Av. 28 de Julio, Cercado de Lima
Telephone: 51 1 3303899
Email: museometropolitano@munlima.gob.pe
Website: Lima Metropolitan Museum
Website #2: Museo Metropolitano de Lima - MET
Website #3: Lima Metropolitan Museum
- The Lima Metropolitan Museum offers an audiovisual tour of the pre-Hispanic, viceregal and republican history of the city of Lima. The museum offers scenographies and audiovisual projections in 2D, 3D and 4D. In addition, the Museum's temporary exhibition room manages exhibition proposals that reflect on the history, society and culture of Lima. On the other hand, the Museum has a Children's Reading Room and a Library, and carries out various cultural events and activities aimed at the entire community.
National Museum (Museo de la Nación)
Av. Javier Prado Este 2465
San Borja 15021
Telephone: 51 1 4769878/1 6189393 annex 2306/2280/2484
Email: dipm@cultura.gob.pe
Website: Museum of the nation
Website #2: Museum of the nation
Website #3: Museum of the Nation
Website #4: Museum of the nation The National Museum Of Lima
Website #5: Museum of the Nation (Ministry of Culture)
- The nation's museum houses an approximate collection of 15,500 works, most of which belong to the pre-Hispanic period such as metals, textiles and ceramics, the rest come from the colonial and republican times. The collection is of the archaeological, historical and ethnographic type of Peru.
National Museum of the Archaeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru, Lima (Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropologia e Historia del Peru)
Plaza Bolivar s / n Pueblo Libre
Telephone: 51 321 5630 - Annex 5262/618-9393 Anexo: 5211
Email: communications-mnaahp@cultura.gob.pe
Email #2: comunicaciones-mnaahp@cultura.gob.pe
Email #3: mnaahp@inc.gob.pe
Website: Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropologia e Historia del Peru
Website #2: Library and archive
Website #3: National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History
Website #4: National Museum of the Archaeology, Anthropology, and History of Peru
Website #5: The National Museum of Archeology, Anthropology and History
- The National Museum of Archeology, Anthropology and History of Peru (MNAAHP) is the first museum in Peru; the largest, oldest and most representative of our country. It was the only one that Peru had in the first hundred years of the Republic. It has two different series: Historical Archive and Collections. The first preserves documents from the 16th century and the second, personal and career files of the most important researchers in the country. Its importance lies in the valuable cultural heritage that it guards in its deposits and repositories, which houses approximately 300,000 pieces that make up the legacy of our pre-Hispanic, colonial and republican past. The Museum building has an architecture that combines elements from the late Colonial and Republican periods. Along with its exhibitions, it makes this a meeting place with the history of Peru and the ideal place where everyone, regardless of age or place of origin, can discover, relive and question the experiences of our ancestors.