The Eye That Cries, Memorial stone in Campo de Marte, Lima, Peru

The Eye That Cries is a memorial in Campo de Marte park in Lima's Jesús María district. At its center is a black stone found near a pre-Columbian cemetery in Paracas Bay, from which water flows. Around it, eleven concentric circles are formed by tens of thousands of pebbles, each inscribed with a victim's name, age and year of death.

Lika Mutal conceived the memorial after visiting the Yuyanapaq photographic exhibition prepared by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and it was inaugurated on 28 August 2005 with private funding. The commission's 2003 report documented 69,280 dead or disappeared, some 600,000 internal refugees and 40,000 orphaned children. In 2022 the Ministry of Culture declared it Cultural Heritage of the Nation; in 2024 Lima's municipality and Congress moved to withdraw that status.

The name comes from the water flowing continuously from the central stone, symbolizing tears shed for those remembered. Visitors walk slowly around the concentric circles, reading individual names that transform the memorial into a personal space of remembrance.

The memorial sits within Campo de Marte park in the Jesús María district and is easy to reach on foot. Visitors should allow time to walk slowly around the circles and read the names, as the site is best experienced in daylight hours.

The central black stone was discovered near a pre-Columbian burial site, giving it an unexpected archaeological connection. Water flowing from this ancient source creates a tangible link between Peru's distant past and the memories being honored today.