The Puente de Piedra ("Bridge of Stone") was completed in 1610 to span the Rímac river behind the Government Palace and connect central Lima with the Rímac district. It is the oldest surviving bridge in the city — six low stone arches, allegedly mortared with egg-white instead of lime to make them more durable, and the central axis of every colonial royal procession.
The bridge is still in daily use. From the north end you can look down the river to the modern bridges and across to the Cerro San Cristóbal. The Alameda de los Descalzos runs north from here along the river — a poplar-lined 17th-century promenade that ends at the Convento de los Descalzos monastery, with its small museum of Cuzco-school painting.