Fodor's Expert Review Casa Riva-Agüero

A pair of balconies with celosías—intricate wood screens through which ladies could watch passersby unobserved—grace the facade of this rambling mansion from 1760. Step inside, and the downtown traffic fades away as you stroll across the stone courtyard and admire the ancient galleries and woodwork. Peru's Catholic University, which administers the landmark, uses it for changing folk-art exhibitions, but the real reason to come is for a glimpse into a colonial-era home.

The house still retains many of its original neoclassical and Second Empire furnishings.