Casa de Osambela

This guide to Casa de Osambela in Lima starts after the 1746 earthquake that flattened the city's tall buildings, and the compromise that followed between terrified residents and a viceroy who wanted upper floors banned outright. It follows Martin de Osambela, a Spanish banker and ship-owner who bought the ruined lot and built far taller than the quake generation thought safe, and the ritual around the Lord of Miracles that grew out of the same disaster. Look up at the octagonal tower, still angled toward the harbor at Callao.