Francisco Pizarro laid the first stone in 1535. Archbishop Jerónimo de Loayza commissioned a larger building in 1564. Francisco Becerra designed the plan the present building follows, from 1585, modeled on Seville Cathedral, with three naves and side chapels. Juan Martínez de Arrona designed the main entrance, completed in 1632. The facade is Renaissance with Plateresque decoration, and the interior mixes late Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical elements. The vaults are ribbed wood and stucco, built light against earthquakes.
Earthquakes struck in 1746, which nearly ruined it, and in 1940. Matías Maestro finished the bell towers from 1794 to 1797. The lead says it was completed in 1797.
It is part of the Historic Centre of Lima, a UNESCO site since 1991. It is partly a museum of colonial art.
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