Cripta de los Héroes, Funerary memorial in Lima District, Peru

The Crypt of Heroes is a circular mausoleum over 30 metres high in the Presbítero Matías Maestro cemetery, with a main floor and two basements beneath a large dome. Neoclassical columns surround it, and the interior is lined with black-veined marble and stained glass. Its entrance reads "La Nación a sus Defensores en la Guerra de 1879", and a marble reproduction of Antonin Mercié's Gloria Victis crowns the top.

The monument was inaugurated in 1908, roughly a century after the cemetery itself was established. Its construction took place during a period when Peru was expressing national identity through large-scale public works.

The crypt holds names of those who died defending the nation and shows how Peru chose to honor their memory through architecture and sculpture. Visitors today encounter a space that continues to hold meaning as a place of remembrance.

The mausoleum stands inside the Presbítero Matías Maestro cemetery in Barrios Altos, Lima. The entrance level is reached directly, while the first basement is reached by a side staircase and the second basement lies below it. Visitors should keep in mind that the crypt is a patriotic sanctuary under the custody of the Centro de Estudios Histórico Militares since 1953.

The crowning sculpture is a marble reproduction of Gloria Victis by French sculptor Antonin Mercié, not a work on the facade. It sits atop the circular mausoleum, which rises over 30 metres and is ringed by neoclassical columns.