Park · Lima

Magic Water Circuit of the Reserve Park

AT A GLANCE

Why go?

On the edge of downtown Lima, where Avenida Arequipa meets the Paseo de la República, the Magic Water Circuit (Circuito Mágico del Agua) turns a historic park into a nightly spectacle of dancing fountains, colour and laser light. Inaugurated on 26 July 2007 inside the Parque de la Reserva, it is a linked sequence of thirteen cybernetic fountains that mix water, music, sound and projection, and it earned a Guinness World Record as the largest fountain complex in a public park. It is the closest thing Lima has to a free-open-air show, and one of the city's most beloved places for an evening stroll.↗↗↗↗

What makes the circuit special is the way it layers technology over a park with real historical bones. The Parque de la Reserva was inaugurated in 1929 as a tribute to the citizen 'Reserve' battalions who fought in the War of the Pacific, and its art-deco and indigenista layout—designed by French architect Claude Sahut and decorated with sculptures by Peruvian artists—is now a designated Urban Monumental Environment and National Heritage. Walking from fountain to fountain means moving through both a feat of hydraulic engineering and a monument to Lima's memory.

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Park · Lima

Magic Water Circuit of the Reserve Park

Lima, PE 4.5 (84,147 Google reviews)

Photo: Google Maps

AT A GLANCE

Why go?

On the edge of downtown Lima, where Avenida Arequipa meets the Paseo de la República, the Magic Water Circuit (Circuito Mágico del Agua) turns a historic park into a nightly spectacle of dancing fountains, colour and laser light. Inaugurated on 26 July 2007 inside the Parque de la Reserva, it is a linked sequence of thirteen cybernetic fountains that mix water, music, sound and projection, and it earned a Guinness World Record as the largest fountain complex in a public park. It is the closest thing Lima has to a free-open-air show, and one of the city's most beloved places for an evening stroll.↗↗↗↗

What makes the circuit special is the way it layers technology over a park with real historical bones. The Parque de la Reserva was inaugurated in 1929 as a tribute to the citizen 'Reserve' battalions who fought in the War of the Pacific, and its art-deco and indigenista layout—designed by French architect Claude Sahut and decorated with sculptures by Peruvian artists—is now a designated Urban Monumental Environment and National Heritage. Walking from fountain to fountain means moving through both a feat of hydraulic engineering and a monument to Lima's memory.

↗↗↗↗

A park with a past

Long before the fountains danced, this ground had a martial history. During the Chilean occupation of 1881, ordinary Limanos—labourers, artisans, teachers, even older boys—enrolled in a civilian 'Batallón de la Reserva' and trained on land that then belonged to the neighbouring Parque de la Exposición. The park that rose on the site in 1929, under president Augusto B. Leguía, was named to honour those reservists who fell at the battles of San Juan, Chorrillos and Miraflores.↗↗

The layout fuses European and Peruvian influences: geometric art-deco curves and Belle Époque zigzags alongside indigenista sculpture that reclaims pre-Columbian roots, in works by artists such as José Sabogal, Daniel Vásquez Paz and Cristina Gálvez. For decades the park slipped into neglect, but a restoration launched in 2003 and led by architect Flor de María Valladolid revived it—recovering thousands of trees, restoring the original monuments and the 1929 reflecting pools, and preparing the ground for the fountain circuit that arrived in 2007.↗↗↗

The thirteen fountains

The circuit unfurls as a walk you can follow at your own pace, each fountain named for the figure or colour it throws off after dark: Mágica, Fantasía, Ilusión, Cúpula Visitable, Tangüis, Armonía, Arco Iris, Túnel de las Sorpresas, Laberinto del Ensueño, Vida, Tradiciones, Niños and Río de los Deseos. The showstopper is the Fuente Mágica, the tallest of them all, whose central jet hurls water more than 80 metres into the sky.↗↗

Several fountains invite you to step inside rather than simply watch. The Túnel de las Sorpresas is roughly a 35-metre tunnel of cascading water you can walk through; the Fuente de los Niños is a playful walk-in automated fountain that families gravitate toward; and a visitable dome and an 'Enchanted Labyrinth' reward those who like getting a little lost among the jets. Scattered around the grounds are also five older ornamental fountains, decorated with sculptural figures, that connect the new spectacle to the park's 1929 design.↗↗

The evening light-and-water show

Save the visit for after dark—this is when the circuit becomes the thing people talk about. At the Fuente de la Fantasía, a 25-minute audiovisual performance turns the spray into a vast illuminated screen, blending colour, music and projections across the water. Shows run in set evening slots, with the latest around 9:10pm, so arriving early enough to catch one lets you see the fountains in their full theatrical mode rather than as mere daylight waterworks.↗↗

Beyond the fountains themselves, the park is greener and livelier than you might expect for central Lima: it is home to a small butterfly pavilion and more than twenty species of urban birds, so a slow pass through the shaded walkways offers a quiet natural counterpoint to the light shows.↗

Plan your visit

The circuit sits in the Cercado (downtown) district, at the intersection of Avenida Petit Thouars and Jirón Madre de Dios, a short hop from the historic centre and the Parque de la Exposición. The ticketed area generally opens in the mid-afternoon and runs until about 10pm every day; the early-morning hours are when the wider park is open to locals free of charge. Admission is inexpensive, with reduced rates for seniors and visitors with disabilities and free entry for children under five, and tickets can be bought at the booth or online in advance to skip the queue.↗↗↗

Come hungry and stay into the evening: food kiosks operate inside the park, and the surrounding streets of Cercado put restaurants within easy reach. Card and mobile payments are accepted on site. If you arrive by car, paid parking is available through one of the park gates, and there is also street parking nearby. Because the show is best appreciated after dark and the light-and-water performances draw crowds, an early-evening visit on a weekday tends to be the calmest way to enjoy the fountains before the main spectacle.↗↗

What makes it special

01

Guinness World Record–holding complex of fountains in a public park—thirteen of them, all lighted after dark.↗↗

02

The Fuente Mágica's main jet shoots water over 80 metres skyward.↗↗

03

Walk-through water features, including a ~35-metre 'Tunnel of Surprises' and a walk-in Children's Fountain.↗

04

A 25-minute laser-and-music show projects onto the water at the Fuente de la Fantasía each evening.↗↗

05

Set inside a 1929 heritage park honouring the War-of-the-Pacific 'Reserve' battalions, with art-deco and indigenista sculpture.↗↗

A little planning goes a long way

Go after dark. The circuit opens mid-afternoon, but the lasers, colour and music only truly come alive in the evening, with the latest light-and-water show around 9pm.↗
Buy tickets online in advance to skip the booth, and bring a card—debit, credit and mobile payments are accepted on site.↗↗
Pair your visit with the adjacent historic centre and the nearby Parque de la Exposición for an easy half-day downtown itinerary.↗↗

About this guide

Compiled with AI assistance from the sources below; this is not a first-hand visit. Place details collected October 5, 2026. Hours, access and ratings can change; confirm with the venue before visiting.

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Jirón Madre de Dios S/N, Lima 15046, Peru

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Opening hours +

As reported by Google Maps. Confirm holiday hours before you go.

Friday: 3-10PM
Monday: 3-10PM
Sunday: 3-10PM
Tuesday: 3-10PM
Saturday: 3-10PM
Thursday: 3-10PM
Wednesday: 3-10PM

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A park with a past

The thirteen fountains

The evening light-and-water show

Plan your visit

What makes it special

A little planning goes a long way

About this guide