San Martin Square

This guide to the monument in San Martín Square asks why a llama sits perched on the head of Madre Patria, the female figure atop General José de San Martín's 1921 monument by Spanish sculptor Mariano Benlliure, unveiled for Peru's independence centennial. It traces the popular story of a lost-in-translation mix-up between the Spanish words for flame and llama, and what historians have found when they went looking for proof. Look up at the pedestal before you decide which explanation you believe.