Lamas Castle
About This Museum
You'd never guess a fairytale Bavarian castle was built here in the Peruvian cloud forest, but that's Lamas Castle for you. Perched on a hill overlooking the town, this quirky stone fortress was the passion project of an Italian immigrant, Nicolás de Piérola Carmona, who started building it in the 1960s with local materials and sheer determination. Inside, it feels less like a sterile museum and more like wandering through someone's wildly eclectic attic. The rooms are packed with everything from pre-Columbian pottery shards to colonial religious art and even taxidermied animals from the region.
Collection Highlights
Look for the hauntingly beautiful Kichwa-Lamista ceramics and textiles that tell ancient stories, then stumble upon a full suit of Spanish conquistador armor standing guard in a stone corridor. Don't miss the curious collection of preserved local wildlife, including vibrantly colored tropical birds.
Visitor Information
It's a bit of a climb up to the castle gates, but the panoramic views of the lush green landscape are absolutely worth the huffing and puffing. The locals running the place are fonts of knowledge, so don't be shy about asking questions.
Architecture & Building
A fantastical, rough-hewn stone structure with crenelated towers and narrow windows that looks like it was airlifted straight from medieval Europe and dropped onto this tropical hillside.
Contact & Location
Address: Castillo de Lamas, Jirón Martin de la Rivera Herrera, Lamas, San Martín, Perú
Phone: +51 955 933 531
