Arequipa

Arequipa, Peru

Early morning light catches the snow-dusted peak of El Misti volcano towering over the white sillar stone roofs of Arequipa.

Arequipa is a volcano-framed city of white sillar stone, with a colonial centre, a famous cloistered convent and a food scene built around the picantería.

The place

Arequipa sits in a broad valley on both banks of the Chili River, with the Andes rising to the north and east and low coastal hills to the south and west. The volcano Misti is the landmark most people remember, its cone visible from many streets above the roofs. At about 2,335 metres the air is noticeably thinner than on the coast, so days can feel bright and warm in the sun while evenings turn cool quickly.

The city has about one million people, which makes it Peru's second most populous city after Lima. It is also the seat of the Constitutional Court, which is why it carries the nickname the Legal Capital of Peru. Most of the historic centre is built from sillar, a pale volcanic stone that gives the buildings their white glow and the city its nickname, the White City.

The Plaza de Armas is the natural starting point, a square lined with arcaded buildings and close to the cathedral. From there the old streets run out to the riverside bridges, the markets and the walled convents that give the city much of its character. Walking covers most of the centre, though the slopes can be steep and the midday sun strong, so a morning start makes sense. Traffic can be heavy, and taxis are the simplest way to reach the outer districts.

Its story

Long before the Inca, the valley where Arequipa now stands held nomadic groups who hunted, fished and gathered food. Over time they domesticated camelids, took up farming and built settlements, many of them linked to the coast by trade routes. Irrigation canals carried river water onto the plains and up the terraces along the valley slopes, making farming possible in what was otherwise desert. The Yarabaya and Chimba peoples settled where the city stands today, and together with the Collagua and Cabana communities they built an agrarian economy in dry land.

The Inca reached the valley later, and their approach was administrative rather than urban. The ruler Mayta Cápac, according to later sources, did not found a town here. Instead the state placed mitma households, families moved from elsewhere, to guard and run a frontier zone. The chronicler Pedro Cieza de León argued that Mayta Cápac never extended Inca rule into the valley himself, since he died before the conquest of Kuntisuyu. His successor pressed on, but a Chanca threat that besieged Viracocha in his capital interrupted the campaign.

Spanish rule arrived in 1540, when the settlement was named Villa Hermosa de Nuestra Señora de la Asunta de Arequipa. A royal decree of 1541 made it a city, and during the colonial era it grew in importance through its economic role and its steady loyalty to the Spanish crown. That mix of trade and allegiance shaped its churches and convents, and the blend of Spanish and Andean ideas that filled them. Today the city is Peru's second most industrialised, with an economy built on industry and services.

What to see

Culture

Arequipa's arts carry two strands at once. Long before the Spanish arrived, people in the valley made petroglyphs and ceramics, and Toro Muerto is a key site, with its rock carvings still studied by archaeologists. After the Spanish came, church architecture, carved walls and altars blended European and Indigenous ideas, and a local painting style called mestizo painting emerged. It kept its distance from the European Renaissance, yet currents from France, England and Spain still reached the city and reshaped its art.

Academic and Romantic painting later flourished, led by artists such as Carlos Baca-Flor, Enrique Masías and Jorge Vinatea Reynoso, whose work helped open the way to contemporary art. The city's identity is strongly regional, and the colonial churches and convents are working places of prayer as well as museums. Religious life still shapes the calendar for many families.

Dress modestly with shoulders and knees covered when entering churches and the convent, and ask before photographing people, especially market vendors.

What to wear

Arequipa's traditional dress grows out of Andean weaving. Wool from alpaca and llama, spun and woven by hand, forms the basis of the shawls, skirts and ponchos worn in the highlands around the city, and bright embroidery on blouses and hats signals community identity. The woven shawl, often called a manta or lliclla, was used to carry bundles on the back and is still worn at festivals, on dance days and at processions.

In daily life most people in Arequipa wear modern clothing: jeans, jackets, trainers and office wear. Traditional dress appears mainly at celebrations, in dance groups and in more rural communities. A warm jacket is a common sight in the evening, because the temperature at this altitude drops quickly after sunset.

For a visitor, layers work best: a light base, a warm jacket for evenings, and a hat and sunglasses for the strong midday sun. Comfortable closed shoes matter on the steep, uneven streets of the centre. For churches, the Santa Catalina convent and religious processions, cover shoulders and knees.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. Expect mild, sunny days all year, with most of the rain falling from January to March. Days are often sunny at about 2,335 metres and nights are cool all year, so the drier, clearer months are the most comfortable for walking. Check current forecasts before you travel.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Flights from Lima and Cusco land at the city's airport, from which a marked taxi with a posted flat rate runs to the centre. Long-distance buses arrive at one of two terminals about 3 km from the centre, a short taxi ride away.

Budget. low

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources