Castillo de Lamas, Castle-style building in Lamas, Peru

The Castillo de Lamas is a five-storey stone building on a bend of Jirón Martín de la Riva y Herrera in Lamas, San Martín. It imitates a European castle with towers, stairways, slit windows and lace-like parapets, and its upper windows look out over the Mayo river and the surrounding rainforest. A swimming pool stands in its courtyard.

The castle was built by Nicola Felice Aquilano, an Italian born in Turin who had worked in the local tobacco industry. He began construction after the 2005 earthquake, using hand-carved stones, because he missed the medieval buildings of his birthplace. It was his private residence until 2007, when he opened it to the public and moved into one of the towers.

The interior rooms hold acrylic paintings by Geenss Archentti Flores, a self-taught painter from Tarapoto. His works depict Dante Alighieri, Bacchus and religious subjects, and the ceiling of one room is covered with painted images of 195 bird species.

The castle is about 22 kilometers from Tarapoto, reachable via the town of Lamas. Moving between the five floors means climbing stairs, so sturdy shoes are a good idea.

The castle is a 21st-century construction, built after the 2005 earthquake; its promoter, the Turin-born Italian Nicola Felice Aquilano, used hand-carved stones. It is described as the only castle in the whole Amazon region, which is why it draws visitors.