Backpacking South America

Our first stop in Peru was Arequipa – Peru’s second largest city. In the center, it’s colonial buildings remain largely intact. The white walls, clean cut corners and arched doorways take you back to the time the Spanish occupied the center.

Arequipa was charming and a nice transition from Bolivia. We spent a few days before and after the Colca Canyon exploring and relaxing in Arequipa. A big plus was most cafes had delicious coffee (a long time coming…) and great food. I know, we’re here in Peru and should truly embrace and enjoy Peruvian food, but we could not help but be drawn in by the Turkish and Middle Eastern restaurants. Arequipa was a welcome change and has set the mood for the rest of Peru.

Santa Catalina Convent

One afternoon, we decided to visit the Santa Catalina Convent located in the center of Arequipa. The convent really is a city inside a city. It was constructed back in the 16th century and endured several earthquakes and periods of transition which can be seen in the architecture of the “city.”

The monastery is made of silar, a volcanic rock, and is often then decorated with beautiful paintings. Over time, various earthquakes destroyed parts of the monastery and the nuns struggled to make proper repairs due to the lack of money. It was necessary to branch out from the dormitory as it became severely damaged after the 1582 earthquake and the monastery continued to out-grow its space. Eventually, the families of the nuns began to construct these private cells or rooms within the monastery where the nuns would live, either alone or with their servant. It soon became a real estate transaction. But, of course, they remained rather simple, but quite comfortable, and for some, rather spacious.

As time went by, it soon became not just a home and place of solitude for the nuns, but they too began to take in the poor or widowed women and their children or single women who chose to exert these virtues of the Catholic Church. However, as for the nuns, their only other contact with the outside world was through these little designated windows that were thickly latticed with a 2 foot space between the next one on the outside wall of the monastery that they were able to talk through when they received visitors. And, if the visitors brought them something there were these shelves built into the wall, that spun, like a lazy-susan corner cupboard.

They had their chapels, their gardens, wash area, courtyards, places of “government,” homes, cemetery, and even a community kitchen. This monastery was so well honored by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church that priests would pay special visits to bless this place and even send parts of their bodies after their death to commemorate the sanctity of this place. It pays to mention that the prioress of this convent was a very special woman, by the name of Doña María de Guzmán, who was a wealthy widow with no children who decided to dedicate herself and her fortune to the Monastery. Her remains reside in the Monastery and her cell, where she died is blocked off by glass in the Monastery and considered sacred.