Five years ago our family visited Arequipa when Susan’s brother was working on an earthquake detection project in Peru. We liked three of the places we visited in 2013 so much that we decided to visit them again on this trip.

Monasterio de la Recoleta – This former monastery and convent, established in 1648 by Franciscan friars, emphasized religious life, education, and scholarship for its members. Now areas previously used for living, working, schooling, and meditating are a museum. One of the most fascinating aspects is the huge library with over 20,000 books and maps, some of which date back to the 1490s. The chapel is still used for daily religious services.  

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Monasterio de Santa Catalina – This convent began in 1579 as a boarding school for girls to learn academics and religious training to become nuns. The families of the girls would pay the monastery for their education, training, and living expenses. The convent, which is surrounded by high walls and takes up a whole city block, suffered extensive damage in the 1958 and 1960 earthquakes and had to be rebuilt.

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This “city within a city” is currently both a museum and a functioning convent where nuns are cloistered in the non-public buildings. Our guide, Stefani, explained that the walls were painted red and blue to enhance the looks of the monastery. Because the color from the red paint stains clothes so easily when the walls are bumped, the guides wear red jackets to minimize stained clothing. 

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La Catedral – The majestic cathedral in Arequipa occupies one side of the Plaza de Armas and is the only church or cathedral in Peru to extend the full length of a plaza. Originally built in 1656, the cathedral had a stable history for about 200 years. It was gutted by fire in 1844 and then flattened by an earthquake 24 years later. After each of these tragedies the cathedral was rebuilt. A strong earthquake in 2001 knocked down one of the towers and caused the other one to tilt precariously. Both were repaired within one year by highly skilled craftsmen.  (More exterior cathedral pictures on our Plaza de Armas post.)

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Parts of the interior of the cathedral reflect a European influence. The pulpit was carved in France. The marble for the columns came from Italy. Spain was the origin for the brass lamp hanging in front of altar. The organ is from Belgium and it is believed to be the largest pipe organ in South America. On Saturday evenings the cathedral organist plays 2 hours of meditative music for anyone to enjoy. He is the one and only organist for Arequipa’s cathedral.

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