The Cathedral of the Lord of Burgos, on the Plaza de Armas, was begun in the 17th century under Spanish colonial rule and took generations to complete. The exterior is restrained — whitewashed walls and a simple bell tower — but the interior holds a collection of colonial religious art including carved wooden altarpieces with gilded details and paintings brought from Spain and painted by local mestizo artists in the Cusco school tradition.
The cathedral is the centre of local religious life, and the feast of El Señor de Burgos in late January brings processions and celebrations that fill the plaza. On ordinary days the interior is cool and quiet, and visitors are generally welcome during non-service hours. The church is most interesting as an example of the hybrid colonial-Andean style that developed in Peruvian highland cities — Spanish in structure but with Andean decorative touches woven into the carved stonework.