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Arequipa

Arequipa, the white city

Flying to Arequipa the immense deserted mountains landscape of the Andes we overflown gave us a sense of the inhospitableness, until we arrived at a green valley irrigated by the River Chili surrounded by volcanoes and deep gorges in the vast desert. Arequipa is splendidly located, at a height of 2325 masl in the shadow of three giant volcanoes with the snowline often reaching several thousand meters below the summit. The "Chachani" (the Beloved) with its 6,075masl is the highest, the steep "Picchu Picchu" (the Top Top) and the perfectly conical Misti (the Gentleman) that permanently draws the attention of the visitor. Know as the city of the "Ever Blue Sky" ("Eterno Cielo Azúl"), Arequipa has dry weather and always an extraordinary limpid sky.

Colonial architecture

Colonial architecture in Peru has produced spectacularly ornate churches with elaborately carved portals that blend Spanish and local culture

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Arequipa Peru stock photographs

But Arequipa is a remarkable city for its architecture. In Peru there are few places where the colonial architecture melt with native styles in an amalgam, that with the complicity of the skilful use of the local materials has resulted in architecture of unique value. The architectural feature of the city is mainly due to the use of the ‘sillar’ a porous stone from volcanic lava unique in the world. This stone has been used in Arequipa for more than one hundred years for the construction of most of the city buildings, becoming the main characteristic of what can be called the ‘Arequipeño’ traditional architecture. The sillar stone has a particular white colour sometimes with a pink hue, and the nickname of "Ciudad Blanca" (White City) was given because of the whiteness of the majority of houses and buildings, that gives the impression of a large white mass in the middle of a vast green valley, a contrast that today is almost lost due to the growth of the city.
Declared UNESCO World Heritage Site, Arequipa historic centre is one of the best architectural treasures of the colonial time of Peru.

Colonial architecture

Declared UNESCO World Heritage Site, Arequipa historic centre is an architectural treasure of colonial Peru

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The Convent of Santa Catalina de Sena, one of the most beautiful in Arequipa and the most important religious monument in Peru, was founded on 1580 and built during the second half of that century. It kept its doors closed to the world until 1970. On opening them, it showed its narrow corridors, its gardens, streets and squares jealously guarding a very particular style of colonial art. With an area of 20,000 square meters, the Convent is a city in miniature, a walled fortress with streets, passageways, stairways and plazas. It combines the colour of 'sillar' with other shades such as ochre, pale blue and orange, all blending well with its austere architectural style. The Convent still houses a number of the closed order of nuns.

St Catalina Convent

one of the most beautiful and the most important religious monument in Peru

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Arequipa Peru stock photographs

The Countryside (La Campiña) the agricultural area of the periphery of the city is embodied in beautiful picturesque landscapes, it is as a great chessboard in different degrees of green and with the Incan system of sowing in "andenerías". The mill of Sabandia (XVIII century). The Founder’s Mansion it is surrounded by lovely countryside and tradition links it with the half-bred son of the founder. With ample terraces, it is a building with a special natural charm. It has a little chapel. At Carmen Alto, a terrace provides a fabulous view across the terraced Chili River Valley towards El Misti volcano.

Arequipa countryside

the periphery of the city is embodied in beautiful picturesque landscapes

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The Museo Santuarios Andinos houses The Lady of Ampato the world wide famous "Momia Juanita" the mummy of a young Inca lady sacrificed by the Incas 500 years ago and found, together with other very well conserved mummies, in the big majestic Ampato, on October 13th, 1995, by John Reinhard and Antonio Chavez from the Catholic University of Arequipa.
The Spaniards established in the city on the 15th of August 1540. Manuel Garcia de Carbajal baptized the town "Villa Hermosa de Arequipa". During the colonial time it was favoured to be an intermediate point of the caravans that transported the big shipments of silver of the rich mines of Potosi (Bolivia) towards Quilca, port in which was sent aboard for Callao and Spain. This date is still remembered in the city Anniversary with public festivals and parades.
Arequipa's cuisine is one of the most varied in Peru. Before leaving we could not had our chupa de camarones (shrimp chowder with milk, eggs and oregano) one of its most famous dishes.

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