Arequipa |
The second largest city in Peru, Arequipa is one of the country’s most attractive cities, prettily situated among white-capped volcanic peaks; however a conceited manner of distinguished self-importance pervades the atmosphere earning the inhabitants a reputation for snootiness towards the rest of their fellow countrymen, indignant to claims of greater cultural importance by other cities. A strong and very tangible rivalry exists between the capital city of Lima and Arequipa.
The beautiful Plaza de Armas, with its gardens and central fountain, is the focus of urban life and evening social activities, framed by impressive colonial arcades and architecture and the elegant white façade of the huge Cathedral. One of the city’s highlights is the remarkable Santa Catalina Convent, a complex enclosing a complete city within a city, and one of the country’s most fascinating colonial religious buildings.
Besides the architecture and museums, the countryside around Arequipa holds many attractions for the visitor, including the relatively easy climb up the El Misti volcano. The Colca Valley offers superb landscapes, with agricultural terraces and snow-covered mountains, villages with narrow streets and ornate churches, and the dizzying Colca Canyon, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and an excellent place to see the giant condors.
Attractions
Museo Santuarios Andinos (Museum of Andean Sanctuaries)
The small museum’s most famous attraction is the 600 year old frozen body of Juanita, the young Inca girl who was discovered in near perfect condition on top of the Ampato Volcano in 1995. She was killed as a sacrificial offering to the mountain gods and buried in a tomb with a number of funeral offerings that are also on display in the museum, along with other ice mummies found on the mountain. The body had been encased in ice and preserved by the freezing temperatures on the 20,000ft (6,000m) peak for hundreds of years, and was found after a volcanic eruption melted the ice and exposed the tomb. The Ice Maiden is displayed in a refrigerated glass case, and analysis of her DNA has afforded great insights into the Inca culture. An interesting video documents the discovery and is included as part of the compulsory tour.
Address: Santa Catalina 210; Telephone: (0)54 200 345; Opening time: Monday to Saturday 9am to 5.45pm, and Sunday 9am to 3pm; Admission: S/. 15, concessions available
Santa Catalina Monastery
Enclosed within high walls is the Santa Catalina Monastery, an enormous complex of rooms, pretty little plazas and ornate fountains, a maze of narrow cobbled streets, chapels, beautifully decorated archways and boxes of red geraniums. The thick and brightly painted walls contain numerous cells that once housed over 200 members of the female nobility who chose to shut themselves away from the rest of the world in a life devoted entirely to prayer. Some 400 years later the monastery was opened to the world and since then visitors have been able to wander through the exquisitely finished gates and admire the valuable collection of some of the finest examples of existing Spanish American religious art that decorate the walls. Today, about 30 resident nuns live out of sight in the northern part of the complex. Noteworthy is the Orange Tree Cloister, painted a sky-blue with beautiful murals decorating the vaulted arches, as well as the huge 17th-century kitchen with its blackened walls, and the long and narrow street known as Calle Toledo, which is the oldest part of the monastery and leads to the open air laundry where the nuns washed their clothes in large jugs filled from the canal. Unlike any other church compound, Santa Catalina is a masterpiece of colonial architecture, and is the most fascinating religious complex in Peru.
Address: Santa Catalina 301; Telephone: (0)54 229 798; Website: www.santacatalina.org.pe; Opening time: Daily 9am to 5pm, last entry at 4pm; Admission: S/. 25
Excursions