Arequipa - Peru Travel Information
Arequipa or as it is sometimes called "the white city" is one of the most beautiful cities in Peru, if not in all South America. Its streets are full of colonials houses and its main square (plaza de armas) is probably one of the most beautiful I visited.
Many houses in the city are built from a white volcanic rock, and this is why the city got its name.
Arequipa is situated in a beautiful valley, at the foot of El Misti Volcano. El Misti is a perfect cone-shaped volcano that rises up to 5822 meters above sea level, and its snowy peak can be seen from all over the city.
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UNESCO declared Arequipa in 2000 as a World Heritage Site. |
Santa Catalina Monastery
Santa Catalina monastery is actually a city inside a city that covers over 20 sq km of the city. The Santa Catalina monastery is situated inside Arequipa city borders, but was opened to visitors only in 1970, after 400 years of mystery.
The monastery was built in 1579 by the Dominican Order, and in the past it was populated by 450 nuns who lived there in complete isolation. The few nuns that still live in the monastery today (about 30) moved to a small part of the monastery, which is inaccessible to visitors.
The monastery's small streets are painted in strong colors, and it is clean everywhere. Hundreds of streets, pathways, doors and stairs make the visit to the monastery a unique experience, and the photographers among you will not stop taking photos.
 Costs |
Entrance fee is 25 Sol. |
 Hours |
Daily: 09:00 - 17:00 |
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Additional information may be found at Santa Catalina Monastery |
Toro Muerto
Near Arequipa travelers can visit Toro Muerto, a large are full of rocks with rock carvings (Petroglyphs) on them. Toro Muerto is considered by many as the largest collection of petroglyphs in the world. It is doubtful if this is really the biggest site in the world, however it is still very impressive.
Toro Muerto contains hundreds of volcanic rocks with fascinating paintings carved on them. The rocks are scattered around an extensive area of several sq km.
Most historians agree that these painting were created by the Huari Civilization more then 1000 years ago.
The huge extent of the site and the primeval desert settings are even more impressive than the paintings themselves. The paintings include geometric shapes, animals and human figures, but are not of high artistic quality.
Surprisingly, only few tourists arrive to the site, maybe because of its distance from any other city or because of its desert location that exhausts those who walks around the rocks while looking for the carvings.
Arequipa's Cathedral
Arequipa's central cathedral is one of the most beautiful in Peru. It is situated in the center of the city, in Plaza de Armas. The cathedral was first built at 1612 and after it was burnt down, it was re-built in 1844.
Arequipa's cathedral is decorated with marble and wood, and in the back of the cathedral there is an impressive Belgian Pipe Organ dating to the 19th century, one of the biggest organs in Latin America.
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Hours |
Mon-Fri: 08:00-12:00, 17:00-20:00 |
Colca Canyon
Colca Canyon is located near Arequipa, but I dedicated to give it a separate page - Colca Canyon.
