The Palacio de la Exposición is a building located on Colon avenue in downtown Lima

Lima District

Lima is a district of the Lima Province in Peru. It is not where the inner city zone of Lima, the country's capital city, is located, San Isidro District being such area in Lima....

, Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. It was constructed in the 19th century together with the Park of the Exposition to house the International Exposition of Lima in 1872. Since 1957, it has been home to the Museum of Art of Lima.

History

The building was constructed in unison with the Park of the Exposition and was ordered built by president Jose Balta

José Balta

José Balta y Montero was a Peruvian soldier and politician who was president of Peru from 1868 to 1872. He was the son of John Balta Bru and Agustina Montero Casafranca....

 in 1869 for the international exposition that was to take place in Lima

Lima

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

 in celebration for the fifty years of Peruvian independence. The construction of the building took place between 1870 and 1871. The building is of a neo-renissance style and was designed by the Italian architect Antonio Leonardi.

Its design was considered a pioneer of its time in South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 as it was one of the few buildings constructed of steel.

In July 1872 both the palace and the park were inaugurated and the exposition took place soon after. After said event, the palace was home to the Society of Fine Arts. During the War of the Pacific

War of the Pacific

The War of the Pacific took place in western South America from 1879 through 1883. Chile fought against Bolivia and Peru. Despite cooperation among the three nations in the war against Spain, disputes soon arose over the mineral-rich Peruvian provinces of Tarapaca, Tacna, and Arica, and the...

 the building was used as a hospital and later a garrison for the Chilean army

Chilean Army

The Chilean Army is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 45,000-person army is organized into seven divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade....

.

In 1889 the Peruvian government

Government of Peru

Peru is a presidential representative democratic republic with a multi-party system. Under the current constitution, the President is the head of state and government; he or she is elected for five years and cannot seek immediate re-election, he or she must stand down for at least one full...

 ceded the building to the Municipality of Lima. In 1905, the building became home to the National Museum of History and the Ministry of Public Works. Later, throughout different time periods, it was used by the Chamber of Deputies, the Direction of Traffic, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Municipality of Lima.

Museum of Art of Lima

In 1954, the Municipality of Lima ceded the building to the Patrons of the Arts civil association for refactioning and remodeling to convert it into an art museum. The Museum of Art of Lima, Museo de Arte de Lima, was inaugurated in 1957 while its official inauguration took place in 1961.