In the middle of Miraflores, surrounded on all sides by apartment blocks and traffic, the Huaca Pucllana is a stepped adobe pyramid of the Lima culture — built between 200 and 700 AD as a ceremonial and administrative centre. The mud-brick blocks are set on edge in a "library shelf" pattern that has proven remarkably earthquake-resistant. The site was actively used after the Lima culture as a Wari burial ground, then forgotten under windblown sand until rescue archaeology began in the 1980s.
Guided tours (the only way to visit) climb up the terraces, past a reconstructed reed boat and a small zoo of llamas and cuyes. The Huaca Pucllana Restaurant at the foot of the pyramid serves modern Peruvian cuisine on a terrace overlooking the floodlit ruin — one of the most distinctive dinner settings in Lima. Evenings are the best time to visit.