Latin America On a Steel Horse: Arequipa – Nice mid-size city with a mix of colonial and modern

Plaza de Armas in Arequipa

Arequipa was one of the earliest cities founded by the Spanish. It was unique to most Spanish cities in that it was not established on top of an existing indigenous city. Instead, Arequipa was created in between three indigenous populations. Thus, all of the colonial architecture is Spanish alone.

Arequipa reminded me a little of Cuenca in Ecuador in its mix of colonial/modern, size and solid infrastructure. It is very comfortable city. I stayed for 5 days in Arequipa.

It is situated next to two large volcanoes: Misti and Chachani. Unfortunately, it was rainy season and it was difficult to get good views. The day I arrived, I had magnificent views of both Misti and Chachani. I could not find a good angle to get a picture and I was tired so I decided to rest instead. I did not have as good a view for the rest of the time I was there.

My best picture of Misti

Iglesia de la Compañia

The Spanish Jesuits started construction on the Iglesia de la Compañia in the late 1500's. An interesting thing about this church is that it used a mix of Catholic and indigenous religious symbols. The apparent idea was that they could influence the indigenous people if they could relate to the symbolism on the church.

The facade had ornate carvings that included common animals used in Incan culture.

Notice the sun (a symbol of indigenous religions) below Christ.

Iglesia la Compañia Plaza - note the Muslim influence in the architecture

Santa Catalina Monastery

The Santa Catalina Monastery was founded in 1579. It grew to a size of 20,000 square meters and housed as many as 300 nuns at one time. As I walked through the monastery, I kept thinking that this was 17th century version of mixed corporate / residential use. There were quarters for nuns. There were a large number of wood ovens. I believe baking may have been a source of income given the number of ovens. There were confessionals, a chaple, a large kitchen, a laundry area, a pharmacy, and a few other areas. One thing I learned: the nuns had some sort of property rights to their quarters; as there were records of nuns selling their quarters to others.

The entrance to Santa Catalina

Looking over Santa Catalina gives an idea of the size of the monastery

A nun's quarters

A street within the convent

One of the many wood ovens

Branding on the wafer. You are eating the body of Christ brought to you by the Jesuits

The laundry room

Me in front of a tree

An open area within the monastery

The Founder's House

The Casa del Fundador (founder's house) was built by the initial founder of the city of Arequipa, Don Manuel Garcí de Carbajal. The initial building occurred in the year 1540. That is an old house. Today, it serves for historical visits and community events.