Palacio de Torre Tagle

This guide to the Palacio de Torre Tagle in Lima follows José Bernardo de Tagle Bracho, a merchant who armed privateering ships against Dutch raiders in the 1720s and spent the fortune and title it won him on this mansion. You'll hear about the calesa, the two-wheeled carriage he had painted for Sunday parades through Lima's boulevards, and the rivalry among the city's aristocracy over whose lacquer and horses drew the most eyes. The carved cedar balcony above still looks out over the same street.