Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos dates back to 1548 when Estudios Generales was founded by the Dominican Order inside the Basilica of Santo Domingo. In 1551 San Marcos was officially established by a royal decree and the university has been operating ever since.
San Marcos is referred to as the Dean University of the Americas because it is the oldest continuously operating university in the Americas.
The university is located in Lima, the capital of Peru.
When the university was first established there were just three faculties: arts, law, and theology. Today there are more than 20 faculties, which are organised into five academic areas: health sciences, basic sciences, engineering, economic and management sciences, and humanities and legal and social sciences. Within each area the faculties are subdivided into departments offering a range of both undergraduate and graduate degree programmes.
There are currently more than 30 centres, institutes and units at the university that facilitate research in the following fields: health sciences, engineering, economy and business, and the humanities.
The university boasts the San Marcos Cultural Centre and the Museum of Natural History of Lima, both of which are open to the public. Students can enrich their studies by paying a visit to the centre and the museum in their free time.
Sitting in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, Lima is the only capital in South America that overlooks the sea. Lima is home to more than nine million people.
