More austere than many of Cuzco’s other churches, Iglesia San Francisco dates from the 16th and 17th centuries and is one of the few that didn’t need to be completely reconstructed after the 1650 earthquake. It has a large collection of colonial religious paintings and a beautifully carved cedar choir.
The attached museum supposedly houses the largest painting in South America, which measures 9m by 12m and shows the family tree of St Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order. Also of macabre interest are the two crypts, which are not totally underground. Inside are human bones, some of which have been carefully arranged in designs meant to remind visitors of the transitory nature of life.
