Arequipa - The White City of Peru

I have now heard two reasons why this is called The White City. First, most tour books will call it the white city because of the sillar blocks (white volcanic rock) that was used to construct the city in colonial times. The other reasoning comes from the Peruvian tour guides that I have had in the city. They claim that because the indigenous were moved to the other side of the river, which is now Yanahuara, and when visitors came to the city all they saw were the 'white' Spaniards, who were occuping what is now the Plaza de Armas area. They claim that the white block thoery was not true because up until the 20th century these rock buildings were painted.

Choose which ever belief that you want but if you believe the first, many of the colonial buildings still stand after these 400-500 years. I hope to list several here in these pages for you to consider.

Finally, this city is the departure point for several tours including the famous Colca Canyon.

Quick Tips:

A couple of warnings for tourists from a couple of conversations I have had with fellow tourists here.

1) Pickpockets are here and they do prey on tourists. One trick that I have heard from three people is that the pickpockets will distract you by spitting at you. I don't blame you for blocking or dodging this but be aware that they may be reaching in your pockets while doing this. Don't think they just don't like tourists.

2) Many of the tours leave between 8:30 and 9:30 in the morning. The tour vans will pick you up outside the hostals or hotels that you are staying. The thieves know this and will work in at least pairs. One will begin talking to those waiting outside with their bags next to them. The other will snatch it while the conversation is going on. I have heard this happen on two occasions and neither party even saw the bag get snatched. First, you should stay inside of the hostel/hotel while waiting. If you do have to be outside always have a hand on the bag, foot through a loop on the bag, etc.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking was my main mode of transportation. This was the case even though I lived well away from the Plaza de Armas, where you will find most of the tourist things such as tour guides, hostals, hotels and the like.

Taxis are VERY cheap here and VERY easy to find. So if you do feel uncomfortable this is a great option.

Buses are confusing and the city buses generally consist of mini-vans. This is just my impression, I have not used them so I will let you judge for yourself.

This Church was by far my favorite of the city. It is small and simple. I like the way the clay bricks and the sillar blocks worked together both outside and inside. There isn´t the detail of the carvings on the walls as you can see in the Church of the Campañia or San Augustine for example but those can be seen throughout the city. This church was built in the late 1500s.

It is free to visit the church while it is open but to tour the monastery there is a small fee and the entrance is to the right of the church doors. Once you have paid, a guide will be assigned to you. Mine spoke a little English. Inside you get to see numerous art works from what is called the Cuzcuno school. Some are rather interesting. My two favorites were one showing a scene of St. Joseph´s death which is not really recorded anywhere. The other is of the last supper with the volcano Misti in the background. My guide was really friendly and had me take pictures of everything although I do not know if I should have been or not. Most of the art you will see is housed within the first chapel of San Francisco which dated in the mid-1500s.

Finally, check out the Plaza de San Francisco to the left of the church. I found this Plaza to be much more tranquil than the Plaza de Armas with more trees to block the sun and less people trying to get you to eat in their restaurants.

This was another of the number of churches that are scattered throughout the city. I found it to be open where others in the city have odd hours that must not have mixed with my schedule. San Agustin looks very beautiful from the outside with detailed engravings on its sillar walls similar to La Compañia but the inside is unfortunatly more like the Catedral. It must have had extensive damage at one point as well and had to be replaced with the current plaster walls.

This is the museum where the famous Incan Ice Princess mummy, Juanita is housed. Juanita was found in 1995 on top of the Ampato Volcano near Arequipa.

The tour consists of two parts the first half was a National Geographic Society video that was about Juanita. I had already seen it so it was not really all that meaningful but if you know nothing it is better than a guide that can only speak garbled English. (Note: our guide spoke pretty good English.) After the video you are taken into a series of four rooms. The first three contain grave offerings that were found with Juanita and the other mummies on Ampato. The last room contained the remains of Juanita and two other mummies found on Ampato. They are encased in refrigerated glass cases.

A couple of notes: I was lucky. Juanita was away being studied at another university until the day before I arrived. While she was away the museum was still open so you may want to ask if Juanita is there before you pay for the entrance.

This is the chocolate of choice in Arequipa. It is made locally in Arequipa. Their milk chocolate bar is called MILKY and can be found throughout the city. Within the store itself you can buy almost anything else including a box of chocolates in a chocolate box. Very good. You should at least try the MILKY bar.

This is a very large church. It was definitly not my favorite in the city. It was gutted by a fire in the late 1800s and now the insides are mostly plaster. It does look beautiful from the outside though, especially lit up at night. It is also nice because the two spires can direct you to the Plaza de Armas from many directions.

This is a very beautiful church just off of the Plaza de Armas opposite of the Cathedral. The carving of the sillar around the outside of this church is beautiful. The inside of this church is still the white sillar and is beautiful.

To the left of the alter there is an entrance to a small chapel where a couple of tour guides claimed it looked like the Sistine Chapel. I hope it does not look like the Sistine Chapel because it really was not worth the dollar or so that it cost me to get back there. It is basically a coupula that is painted in jungle motifs. Also visit the old cloisters of the church which are located just to the left of the church entrance. Here you can find all of the touristy type shops located in the beautiful cloisters of the church including alpaca woolen goods.