It was initially faced with the opposition of the population that was accustomed to burying their dead in the atrium or under the churches and convents in crypts or catacombs.

Its inauguration in 1808 was headed by Viceroy José Fernando de Abascal, under the direction of the Vitorian architect, sculptor and painter Matías Maestro [es].

The cemetery was executed with care, within the guidelines of the new style: symmetry, irradiation of the new barracks, chapels, parks, avenues laid out in an orderly and clear manner.

Its interior was decorated with murals by José del Pozo, a Sevillian painter who arrived with the Malaspina expedition who settled in Lima and became a close collaborator of Maestro.

Also included are the works of the Italians Ulderico Tenderini, Giovanni Battista Cevasco, Pietro Costa and Rinaldo Rinaldi, all well-known in the artistic world of their time.

Among the works of art that are part of the cemetery are El Ángel de la Guarda (1947) by the sculptor Isabel Benavides Barreda [es].

The Crypt of Heroes (Spanish: Cripta de los Héroes) is the cemetery's largest monument, built to commemorate those fallen during the War of the Pacific.

[8] For several years at the time of All Saints' Day, the play Don Juan Tenorio by José Zorrilla, a classic of literature written in Spanish, has been represented in the Cemetery.