[1] The palace is a stately government building, occupying the northern side of the Plaza Mayor in Peru's capital city, Lima.

Set on the Rímac River, the palace occupies the site of a very large huaca ("revered object") that incorporated a shrine to Taulichusco, the last kuraka (indigenous governor) of Lima.

The coat of arms of Pizarro is displayed on the main portico of the building, at Palacio Street, which was designed and built by the French architect Claude Antoine Sahut Laurent (1883–1932).

The Ambassadors' Room (Salón de Embajadores) has recently been renamed in honor of the inspector of the guards Mariano Santos Mateo.

Its original name paid tribute to the soldiers who died defending the building here during the attack on 29 May 1909 during the first presidency of Augusto B. Leguía, whose bust is displayed beneath a portrait of Pedro Fernández de Castro, Count of Lemos by an unknown 17th century artist.

[5] According to the Peruvian historian Raúl Porras Barrenechea, the fig tree was "not mentioned by any chronicler of the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries until it was invented by some valet from the palace, urged by tips".

Inspired by the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France, the room is the work of the French architect Claude Antoine Sahut Laurent.

The room contains two matching marble tables, and an old clock topped with a small statue of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, who was victorious at the Battle of St. Quentin in 1557.

The staircase at the end of the hall is framed by two busts of the Liberators of Peru Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín, sculpted by Peruvian artist Luís Agurto.

The white stucco-decorated gallery on the second level of the Great Hall gives access to the office of the Council of Ministers (Consejo de Ministros).

[4] Francisco Pizarro, appointed Governor of New Castile in 1529, founded the city of Lima as his capital in 1535 and built his palace on its Plaza Mayor in 1536.

It stood on the site of a large huaca ("revered object") where Taulichusco, last kuraka, or indigenous ruler, of the Rimac Valley during that period, had lived until Pizarro's conquest of the area.

[13] Antonio de Ulloa described the building as it was at the time of his arrival in Lima as a young lieutenant of the Spanish Navy in 1740: In the north side of the square is the vice-roy's palace, in which are the several courts of justice, together with the offices of revenue, and the state prison.

This was formerly a very remarkable building, both with regard to its largeness and architecture, but the greatest part of it being thrown down by the dreadful earthquake with which the city was visited, Oct. 20th, 1687, it now consists only of some of the lower apartments erected on a terras [sic], and is used as the residence of the vice-roy and his family.

Phase II was built between 1937 and 1938 during the presidency of Oscar R. Benavides, who assigned completion of the building to the Polish architect Ricardo de Jaxa Malachowski.

Antonio de Ulloa described the Viceroy's bodyguard in 1740: "For the safety of his person and the dignity of his office, he has two bodies of guards; one of horse, consisting of 160 private men, a captain and a lieutenant.

"[16]The Royal Halberdiers were the Viceroy's Guard for three hundred years until the Latin American wars of independence of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

President Augusto Bernardino Leguía Salcedo, then in his second term of office, permanently assigned an infantry battalion to safeguard palace security and assume public duties on the model of the French Republican Guard, on the insistence of Peruvian Army General Gerardo Álvarez.

In 1987, protection of Presidential security was assumed by the 501st Military Police Battalion of the Peruvian Army (Batallón de Policía Militar Nº 501).

Today the Government Palace Guard performs largely ceremonial public duties for its commander in chief, the president, and his family on behalf of the Armed Forces and the National Police of Peru.

Originally known as the Presidential Escort Cavalry Squadron (Escuadrón de Caballería "Escolta del Presidente"), it was granted regimental status in 1905, and was named after Field Marshal Domingo Nieto in 1949.

The Junín Hussars were raised in 1821 by José de San Martín as part of the Peruvian Guard Legion, and fought in the final battles of the Latin American wars of independence in Junin and Ayacucho.

They were transferred to the Army Education and Doctrine Command in 2012 after 25 years of service, but the regiment still rides to the palace and in state ceremonial events when required.

The Domingo Nieto Regiment was reactivated on 2 February 2012, by order of President Ollanta Humala and the Peruvian Ministry of Defense.

On Saturdays, and on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month, the unmounted ceremony mirrors that of the mounted Dragoon Regiment, but includes a drill exhibition with band accompaniment.

The mounted Changing of the Guard begins with the regimental band trotting past the dignitaries at the palace entrance and taking position on the esplanade.

Three mounted officers from the regiment then approach the palace entrance at a trot as the band plays La Rejouissance from George Frideric Handel's Royal Fireworks Suite.

They give notice that the changing of the guard is about to begin, and if the president is present the officers salute to the accompaniment of Sergeant Major José Sabas Libornio Ibarra's 1897 Marcha de Banderas (March of Flags).

The Presidential Escort Regiment parades in full dress uniform, consisting of white tunics with red pants in summer, and blue breeches in winter.

Formerly the FN FAL rifle, standard issue in the Peruvian Army, was part of the regiment's arsenal, but only used in dismounted drill.