Lima's largest art museum displays 3,000 years of Peruvian art, ranging from Chavín and Paracas ceramics and weavings to modern-day video installations. There’s an extensive collection of paintings from the Cusqueña school, dating back to colonial times, along with watercolors by famous milieu painter Pancho Fierro, and a well-detailed history of photography going back to its introduction to Peru in 1842. The building’s history is as storied as some of the pieces. Italian architect Antonio Leonardi designed the neo-Renaissance-style Palacio de la Exposición, which was inaugurated in 1872 by then-president José Balta for the International Exposition of Lima to celebrate 50 years of Peruvian independence. It later served as a blood bank and garrison, before becoming a permanent exhibition space in 1961. A multi-year renovation, concluded in 2010, completely overhauled every exhibition room, brightening up the parquet and black-and-white checkered tile floors. Plan for a few hours here.