AREQUIPA: THE WHITE CITY
In Peru Arequipa is the biggest city after Lima, the Capital. It is located on the South of the country in a beautiful and fertile valley and under the shade of the Misti Volcano, which is the emblem of the city. Arequipa was founded in 1540 is a magnificent work of art. It has one of the most beautiful main squares of the country and many astonishment monuments of baroque, neo-classic and renaissance styles. Arequipa is known as the white city due to the color of the
volcanic rock sillar, used in the construction of churches and colonial houses. The Cathedral is on the main square and has two magnificent towers. In the nearby streets, there is the Santa Catalina Monastery, a wonderful work of art in convent construction. This cloister housed many young female nobles and was kept closed for over 400 years until 1970 when it was opened to visitors. The most outstanding religious complexes are La Compañia and San Francisco. The first was home of the Jesuits in the 17th Century. San Francisco has a church, a convent, a small temple and a handicraft fair called Fundo El Fierro. In the outskirts of the city is the Mansion del Fundador (a colonial house), and also La Campiña. Other very important places are the
Colca and the Cotahuasi Canyons, and the Toro Muerto petroglyphs. The city also has several museums, among which there is one of the Juanita mummy, an Inca virgin discovered in 1995. Recently UNESCO declared the city as Mankind’s Historical Monument. Arequipa is a clear blue-ski city where many poets and important icons were born, without a question, Arequipa is a city you can’t miss.
THE COLCA CANYON: DEEP BEAUTY
Four hours to the north of Arequipa is the Colca, an Inter-Andean valley more than 11,154.86 feet deep and surrounded by Andean plains and snow capped peaks. That is to say, it is the deepest canyon in the world. The Colca surpasses the Colorado canyon in the United States in twice its depth. The route to the Canyon goes through the national reserves of Salinas and Aguada Blanca, beautiful territories where camelids and other Andean species live.