Peru Archives and Libraries


 * 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.

National Archives

 * National Archives System

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

 * Regional Archives Directory

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: [mailto:library@munlima.gob.pe 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: [mailto:jcornejo@munipiura.gob.pe 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: [mailto:lagaguti@terra.com.pe 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: [mailto:consultations@munibarranco.gob.pe consultations@munibarranco.gob.pe] Email #2: [mailto:webmaster@munibarranco.gob.pe 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: [mailto:biblioteca@miraflores.gob.pe 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: [mailto:bibliotecasanmartin.ica@hotmail.com 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: [mailto:jefatura@binape.gob.pe 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: [mailto:julit600@hotmail.com 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: [mailto:museometropolitano@munlima.gob.pe 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: [mailto:dipm@cultura.gob.pe 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: [mailto:communications-mnaahp@cultura.gob.pe communications-mnaahp@cultura.gob.pe] Email #2: [mailto:comunicaciones-mnaahp@cultura.gob.pe comunicaciones-mnaahp@cultura.gob.pe] Email #3: [mailto:mnaahp@inc.gob.pe 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.

Archivos y bibliotecas de Perú