La Cruz del Viajero (The Cross of the Traveller) is a monumental cross located in what now Pueblo Libre, a district of the city of Lima, Peru. It was erected in 1579 by Catholic missionaries. Travellers would stop at the cross to ask for protection on the road to the port of Callao, a route which was beset by bandits. In 1759 the cross was moved 100 metres from its original location to a plaza that bears its name on the corner of Torre Tagle and Julio C. Tello streets. Both José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar are said to have knelt before the cross.

The cross was declared a (Cultural Patrimony of the Nation) in 1998.

La Cruz del Viajero

References

History of Peru

Monuments and memorials in Peru

Spanish colonization of the Americas

Cultural heritage of Peru

La Cruz del Viajero