Republic
In 1821, when Viceroy José de la Serna, Count of the Andes, left Lima, José de San Martín briefly settled in the palace; then he moved to the viceroy's country house in the Palacio de la Magdalena "Palacio de la Magdalena (Pueblo Libre)") located in the Pueblo de la Magdalena (today the district of Pueblo Libre), which the natives of that place knew by the nickname "Palacio", a building not as sumptuous as the name would make us think, which the viceroy Joaquín de la Pezuela, Marquis of Viluma had built, of adobe and of a more court very simple, for rest and solace of the viceroys and their court, but which was occupied by his daughter.
From 1836 to 1839, during the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, it was the seat of government of the protector Andrés de Santa Cruz until the restoration of the Republic of Peru with the government of Agustín Gamarra, after the War against the Peru-Bolivian Confederation. During the government of Ramón Castilla, the palace perhaps experienced its best period since it was enriched by him with several works of art. In 1865, the Swiss architect Michele Trefogli carried out the renovation of the government palace, where he designed and built the large glass dining room, under orders of General Juan Antonio Pezet, vice president of the Republic.
During the War of the Pacific, the Bulnes Battalion was installed in the palace,[9] part of the Chilean army troops that, under the command of Rear Admiral Patricio Lynch, occupied the city of Lima, from January 17, 1881 to October 23, 1883,[10][11][12][13] when, after the signing of the Treaty of Ancón, Miguel Iglesias assumed the provisional government from Peru.
Before leaving the palace, the Chilean soldiers looted it #Los_documentos_del_Palacio_de_Gobierno "Looting of books and documents in Lima (1881)"), taking countless valuable objects - among them, two cannons that flanked the main door of the palace, portraits of the viceroys and presidents until the War of the Pacific, and all the furniture, carpets and lamps.[14] Some works of art were burned or taken away. to Chile.[15].
In December 1884, a fire broke out in one of the so-called Cajones de Ribera that partially damaged it and files from the High Court of Accounts "Tribunal de Cuentas (Spain)") that dated back to the 19th century were lost.[15] When this incident occurred, General Miguel Iglesias was the one to govern. During Iglesias' administration, the government decided to give the building the dignity and elegance it should have as the seat of government by ordering the eviction of the merchants and the construction of a new façade on each of its sides. In 1886, during the government of Andrés Avelino Cáceres, damaged facilities were restored. During the government of Nicolás de Piérola Villena, the façade of the palace was enhanced by placing two open balconies at the ends where the parade balconies are now.
At the beginning of the century, during the government of José Pardo y Barreda, an international competition was called for the construction of a presidential residence; The winner was the architect Emile Robert, whose project, in a French architectural style, was never realized. It is presumed that this design could have served as a source of inspiration for the Polish architect Ricardo de Jaxa Malachowski in the design of the main façade, which faces the Plaza Mayor, of the new palace.
On July 3, 1921, another fire broke out, destroying a large part of the right wing of the palace, that is, the large rooms, rooms and offices of the head of state. President Augusto Leguía later began the transformation of the building by erecting an elegant stone façade in which the Puerta de Honor was maintained, and which was preserved in the new building, and two weeks later he ordered the construction of the Inca Hall, made of papier-mâché, with indigenous and contemporary motifs.
The designers were, among others, the Spanish architect and sculptor Manuel Piqueras Cotolí and the painter Jorge Vinatea Reinoso. There was urgency because the celebrations for the Centennial of the Independence of Peru were approaching, and Leguía had left open the Great Reception Hall, which has a lot of resemblance, in terms of coffered ceiling and wall decoration, to the Quirinal Palace in Rome.
In 1926, Leguía commissioned the French architect Claude Antoine Sahut Laurent to design the new Government Palace, judging at that time that the damaged building was architecturally insignificant and of modest elevation. Sahut's works were influenced by historicist and French styles; However, he was one of the architects who gave rise to the neocolonial style with Moorish tendencies, which is reflected in the design of the palace.
Some of the rooms that he designed were: the Eléspuru and Choquehuanca Hall, the Pizarro Room, the Golden or Reception Room, the Presidential Office and the Sevillian Patio where the garden with the "Pizarro Fig Tree" is located. The Foundation Company was the company in charge of executing the structure of the building, with Carlos Willis being the works administrator and Mariano Barboza being the director of public works.
In 1929, as a result of the crash of the New York Stock Exchange and the global economic crisis, the Foundation Company paralyzed its activities in Peru, leaving the Reception Hall unfinished. Leguía was overthrown on August 22, 1930 and construction work on the current government palace was paralyzed. The Entrance Door, the Eléspuru Hall, the Sevillian Hall, the Golden Hall, the Pizarro Hall and the Presidential Office correspond to the 20th decade of the century, preserving the layout and location of the staircase – now in white marble and covered with Spanish Renaissance-style coffered ceiling – where the Knights of the Cloak ascended to assassinate Francisco Pizarro on June 26, 1541 and where today you reach these ceremonial halls.
On the occasion of the arrival in Peru of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales (future Edward VIII), during the government of General Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro, Sahut's firm was again hired to continue with the reconstruction of the palace. Sánchez Cerro ordered the completion of the Reception Hall and the adjoining rooms, including the Presidential Office, the Ambassadors' Hall, the Ladies' Room, the Aide-de-camp's Room, the Representatives' Room, the Louis XVI Room, the Ministers' Room; which were inaugurated during the visit made by the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom on February 12, 1931, but in 1932 the works were paralyzed again.
Later, President Óscar R. Benavides commissioned architect Ricardo de Jaxa Malachowski to complete the construction. The work began on August 24, 1937, with the demolition of the old part, which continued until the following year, with the construction being done in sections with the employment of two thousand workers. But for the fourth centenary of the founding of Lima, in 1935, the last walls of Pizarro's palace were demolished, but not before carrying out excavations in search of the treasure that, according to legend, Pizarro hid before being murdered by the Almagritas.
The façade of the palace (main entrance) that faces the Plaza Mayor, the left wing (that faces Pescadería Street), the cinema, the chapel and the residence correspond to that period. Since 1938, the government palace has had its current appearance, whose architectural style is French-inspired neo-baroque. In 1987, during the first term of President Alan García, a monument by Andrés Avelino Cáceres was inaugurated in the courtyard of the palace. During the second period of Alberto Fujimori's government, on the recommendation of his daughter, the then first lady Keiko Fujimori, some controversial painting work was carried out in the interiors of the palace, such as the Great Hall.
These works were carried out by a Spanish artist, a personal friend of Keiko Fujimori, who suggested painting the palace facilities with colors that reflect the artistic trends that were in vogue at that time. During the period of Alejandro Toledo's government, work was done to give a new appearance to the Patio de Honor. Throughout the republican history of Peru, several Ministries have functioned in the palace facilities, and it is now the headquarters of the office of the Vice Presidents of the Republic.
In 2005, new lighting was installed at the Casa de Pizarro (with the purpose of highlighting its façade at night) as part of the project called the Tourist Circuit of Light, carried out at the initiative of the then mayor of Lima, Luis Castañeda Lossio, to improve the historic center of the city.[17] Within the group of illuminated buildings, the Metropolitan Municipality and the Cathedral of Lima were also considered. At the beginning of February 2007, the national coat of arms that is at the top of the front of the main façade of the palace was painted in oil with the colors red, green and blue.
The national symbol, which measures two meters on each side, was painted by the students of the National Higher Autonomous School of Fine Arts of Peru, Jorge Ramírez and Ivo Fuentes, who were summoned by the restoration area of said school. Both young people were directed by the coordinator of the School of Fine Arts, Leslie Lee. They worked full time for four days on a hanging scaffold twelve meters high. On May 8, 2009, President Alan García inaugurated an obelisk placed in the main patio, towards the right side of the main entrance that looks towards the Plaza Mayor, of the Government Palace as a reminder of the victims of terrorism in Peru.[18].
During his first message to the Nation at the Legislative Palace on July 28, 2021, President Pedro Castillo assured that he would not use the facilities as the seat of government, and that the building will also be used as a museum. This proposal was eventually discarded given that there were no other government buildings suitable for the exercise of the Executive Power.