The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has announced Wednesday plans to restore La quinta de Presa, a historic colonial mansion located on the outskirts of downtown Lima and north of Rimac River.
In recognition of its 50th Anniversary, Bonnie Burnham, WMF's President, announced the launch of a multi-year campaign to restore five major cultural heritage sites around the world, including La Quinta de Presa.
Built in a late-rococo style and owned by the Peruvian government since 1920, this villa and its surrounding outbuildings reflect the social and economic history of the Spanish-Creole aristocracy of Lima in the eighteenth century.
Since its inclusion on the 2012 World Monuments Watch, WMF has been exploring with the Peruvian Ministry of Culture and the Patronato del Rimac a project to restore and adaptively reuse the site.
The restoration program would ensure the building's future, and its adaptive reuse would provide an opportunity to help revitalize the overlooked district of Rimac through increased tourism, cultural events, and other economic benefits to the community.
Combined with the rejuvenation of two nearby parks that were also included on the 2012 World Monuments Watch--the Alameda de los Descalzos and Paseo de Aguas--there is a timely opportunity to use heritage sites in the district as a catalyst for positive change.
World-renowned photographer Mario Testino, who recently became President of the Board of WMF Peru, expressed his admiration for the conservation of historic moments.
"Throughout my countless journeys all over the world, I have always admired the conservation of historic moments. Heritage preservation can be a tremendous engine of economic development as the restoration of a historic building can be the catalyst for the recovery of the surrounding communities," he said.
"It is exciting to explore possibilities for the future of Quinta de Presa in Lima as my first project as President of the Board of the WMF Peru, as it was on the spotlight list of the late Marcela Pérez de Cuéllar, the founding leader of WMF's presence in Peru," Testino added.
Other monuments to be restored include Mughal Gardens in India, Phnom Bakheng Temple in Cambodia, Qianlong Garden in the Forbidden City in China and the Farnese Aviaries in Italy.
(END) LZD/DLG/RMB
Published: 6/18/2014