Arequipa, Part 2: The Monestary

While in Arequipa, I did a little exploring. I came across the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. This was a convent founded in 1579 under the Dominican order and is considered to be one of the most important and impressive religious monuments in
Peru. It resembles a small village behind walls in the middle of the city with lots of nooks and cranies. It was interesting to imagine what life must have been like.


The convent was largely a mystery until 1970 when local authorities made the convent install modern infrastructures. Interest was sparked and it was opened for tourism. Originally, more than 200 nuns were sequestered here, though now only around 30 live in the convent behind walls and away from the public.

For $30, I got to wander around by myself for about 3 hours, taking lots of pics, and enjoying some solitude. Must have been nice!

I loved the contrast of the buildings with the beautiful clear blue skies of Arequipa.




This was how they washed clothes!


This is one of many rooms where you could kneel on one of the comfy kneelers and prayer to a statue (if you are into that sort of thing, and are so inclined).


This is a typical kitchen with charred walls.


This is a typical room, though this one was atypical in that it had chairs and a desk.

Below is a picture of the confessionals. This is where nuns would confess their sins to priests who were on the other side of the wall. This is the closest they would come to outsiders and to the sound of a man's voice. I wonder how popular these confessionals were?