For Lima visitors who don’t have time to travel up to see the Inca sites at Cusco and Machu Picchu, an alternative is a visit to the huge, seven-step pyramid pile of adobe ruins situated right in the middle of Lima’s upscale municipality of Miraflores, minutes from the business center in San Isidro.

Still under excavation, Huaca Pucllana is a restored adobe ceremonial center dating back to the year 400. The sprawling site, just two blocks off the main street, Avenida Arequipa, is surrounded by homes and apartment buildings. A small museum explains that the artifacts indicate the location was probably the site of ritual banquets and possibly human sacrifice.

A celebrated upscale restaurant nestles beside the excavations. Its formal menu of Peruvian fusion cuisine with a modern twist includes traditional stuffed peppers, a stew of shrimp and quinoa and, of course, a mandatory Pisco sour, Peru’s traditional frothy cocktail.