The highlight of Arequipa is the Monasteria de Santa Catelina. The convent was founded in 1579, 40 years after the arrival of the Spanish to Arequipa. Initially most of the nuns came from rich families and so the convent is a little more elaborate than you might expect as the nuns weren’t quite willing to give up their previous life. There was however a pronouncement by the bishop sometime in the 1600s limiting each nun to only one servant. The convent is absolutely beautifully and a warren of small streets and smaller rooms, with kitchens littered around everywhere. Different sections of the convent show different periods of architecture as the convent has been built in sections, and occasionally destroyed by an earthquake. There are currently 30 nuns still living their and the section they are in was built in the 1960s and is completely different to the sections that are open to tourists. The nuns agreed with us in terms of where to eat, as on our last night eating at our favourite restaurant in Arequipa, there was a group of 6 nuns eating at the next table!
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