Arco de Santa Clara, Stone arch at Plaza San Francisco, Cusco, Peru

The Arco de Santa Clara is a triumphal arch of reddish-brown stone blocks standing at the south corner of Plaza San Francisco, where it spans Calle Santa Clara. It has three round-headed openings, the central one wider and taller than the two flanking it, framed by Ionic columns. Above the central arch a stepped crown carries a statue of Liberty holding a Phrygian cap, flanked by two condors and four slender spires, with a Peruvian shield carved on the lintel.

Built in 1835 on the orders of General Andrés de Santa Cruz, the arch marked the start of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation. It stands at the south corner of Plaza San Francisco, where Santa Clara Street follows the line of the old Inca road toward Contisuyo. Since 1972 it has formed part of Cusco's Monumental Zone, and in 1983 of the UNESCO-listed historic centre.

The arch's upper section carries a Peruvian shield on the lintel; behind it the sun of the South Peruvian State is still visible, as if the present shield was carved over it. Two condors and a liberty statue with a Phrygian cap crown the top, sculpted by Cusco artist Ernesto Olazo Allende. In 1932 the statue's left arm was raised; it originally hung down.

The arch stands at the southern corner of Plaza San Francisco, where Calle Santa Clara passes beneath it. From Plaza de Armas, follow the line of Mantas and Marqués streets southwest; the route is the old Inca road toward Contisuyo. The convent of the Poor Clares that gives the street its name is about 100 metres uphill.

The bronze plaque inside the main arch was placed in 1944 and bears a Peruvian shield; it honours the heroes of the "first libertarian movement of Peru" led by Túpac Amaru II, not the independence movement. Behind the Peruvian shield on the lintel, the sun of the South Peruvian State can still be made out.