Arequipa was born after a plebiscite, which many consider the first one to ever be carried out in America. As a result of this event, Garcí Manuel de Carvajal founded La Villa Hermosa de Arequipa on August 15th, 1540, by the unanimous decision of the Spanish settlers who were leaving Camaná, founded one year before, because it was unhealthy and scarcely populated.

Following the Spanish tradition, the city of Arequipa...

The fertile valley of the Chili River that encloses Arequipa resembles a mantle that protects the city made of sillar; but it is also the pantry from where the corn, potatoes, chili Peppers and garlic that constitute the indelible seal of Arequipa´s cuisine are all kept. Its terraces, fruit orchards, its flowers and herds have served as inspiration for painters and poets, ever since colonial times.

Among its fields we find...

Founded in 1579 under the advocacy of Saint Catherine of Siena, and Arequipa´s largest architectural patrimony, owes its construction to doña Maria de Guzman, a widow who never had any children, who decided to donate all her patrimony to the convent where she sought seclusion.

According to their statues, when the novices entered the convent they had to pay dowry of two thousand silver coins plus one hundred pesos for...

This impressive religious complex was built by the Jesuits fathers during the second half of the 17th century, and ever since, it has suffered serious modifications due to the earthquakes that have devastated the city. The carvings found on its facade are possible, the best representation of the Mestizo Baroque style of Arequipa and is decorated with flowers, bunches of grapes, pomegranates, vines, roses and angels. In the niche we found a...

True to its European influence, the city of Arequipa is divided in suburbs formed by narrow and tortuous streets, which guard not only the city´s mansions and churches, but also its most ancient traditions. Among its main districts it is possible to find Yanahuara, located just two kilometers from the center of the city, on the other side of the Chili River. This district has the best views of the city, and is where the Temple of Saint...

The sillar or ignimbrite rock is the symbol of the White City. This rock is the result of millions of years of volcanic activity in the area, and gases condensed at high temperatures, which are then settled in large blocks, compose it. It is also known as pyroclastic flow or volcanic tuff, and geologist Clarence Fenner first described it in 1948. Jose Luis Bustamente y Rivero referred to the sillar as: "the symbol of collective psychology;...

There is no doubt that the Colca is a land of wonders. Here, the majesty of the natural environment is indissolubly linked to the hand of man. A territory of smoky volcanoes, condors and vicuñas where the ancient culture of its millenary inhabitants refuses to disappear. A true paradise for adventure and nature lovers waiting to be discovered by those who dare to climb the southern Andes and enter its domains.

The Colca...

Travelling through the Colca valley is a unique, full of surprises, experience. The churches of white sillar stone of its colonial towns offer priceless pictures for the traveller, a powerful baroque textures that faces the main plazas against the backdrop of an intensively blue sky, or under a silvery fog that barely reveals the astonishing monuments built for the Spaniards.

The strong buttresses protecting the tall wall against...

No one better than Doctor Alejandra Malaga Medina, a historian from Arequipa who has been involved in the historic research of the Colca, to be cited as an appropriate source of information on the Collahuasi. In her book The Colca Valley Doctor Malaga tells us that: "the Collagua province was sheltered two ethnic groups of long historic tradition: the Cabana and Collaguas. They differed on their customs, clothes and particularly, in terms of...

The Andagua Valley (11.811 fasl), through which the river of the same name flows, is a spectacle typical of prehistoric times. The bottom of the valley, formed by successive lava flows whose origin is attributed to the multiples eruptions, is inhabited by small volcanoes -eighty according to experts- which emerged as "blisters" due to the degasification of the lava, or as a result other eruptions directly from the heart of the earth's...

The pan present and future of the so called "White City" gleaned from a stroll among the charms -hidden and otherwise- of the capital of southern Peru. This is a city which, quite apart from its unique culture and the traditional strength of character of its inhabitants, has much to offer the contemporary traveler.

The first impression, through the airplane window, is that Arequipa does...