Discover Arequipa: Sillar Architecture and Regional Cuisine
Accommodation in Arequipa
Sillar and Historic Architectural Forms
Arequipa’s historic center is built from volcanic sillar stone and combines European and Indigenous building techniques and design features. Most of the historic buildings date from the 18th century, and most are also built from sillar. Round arches and vaulted roofs are among its characteristic forms. This provides a clear sequence for looking at an individual building: sillar as the material, round arches and vaults as forms, and the combination of European and Indigenous features as the design context.
Plaza de Armas and Iglesia de la CompañĂa
The heart of the historic city is Plaza de Armas, with its arcades, city hall, and cathedral. The plaza is protected as a monumental urban setting and as a historic monument. A bronze fountain featuring the figure of TuturutĂş stands at its center. The squares and buildings offer different points of reference: the plaza as the center of the historic district, and the prominent buildings around it.
Iglesia de la CompañĂa lies southeast of Plaza de Armas. A tourist route leads from the façade through the interior and chapel, and includes pre-Columbian art, among other things. The church also preserves a collection of oil paintings by the Jesuits Bernardo Bitti and Diego de la Puente, who shaped the Viceroyalty period. The route and the painting collection offer different ways to explore the church: by walking through its rooms and by viewing its artworks.
Churches, Monasteries, and Collections
The Complejo San Francisco comprises the colonial church, the cloister of the San Francisco monastery, and the church and cloister of the Secular Third Order of Saint Francis. The complex also includes a library with 20,000 volumes and a painting collection. The Museo Franciscano opened in 2006 to introduce visitors to Franciscan culture. The Museo Franciscano features religious artworks and objects in the Pinacoteca de la Inmaculada ConcepciĂłn.
The Monasterio de Santa Catalina is a small walled religious citadel with cloisters, squares, streets, tiled roofs, and cobbled floors. It was built in 1580 as a fully enclosed convent for nuns. Its enclosed layout and sequence of courtyards, streets, and cloisters shape the architectural description of the Monasterio.
The Museo ArqueolĂłgico JosĂ© MarĂa Morante Maldonado is also housed in a historic building: it occupies a sillar house built at the end of the Viceroyalty period and declared part of the Nation’s Cultural Heritage. Here, the history of the building itself takes center stage.
Mercado San Camilo and the Landscape
Mercado San Camilo is a cultural and tourist destination where Arequipa’s history, architecture, and everyday life come together. Typical foods sold there include queso helado, buñuelos, adobo dominical, rocoto relleno, and caldos. The market thus complements the historic buildings with a glimpse of regional cuisine and daily life.
The historic center is set within the natural and cultural surroundings of the Chili River valley, framed by three snow-capped volcanoes and pre-Hispanic agricultural terraces in the surrounding area. Arequipa’s architecture and landscape together shape its character: alongside sillar buildings and historic churches, the volcanoes and nearby terraces also define the region.
For the broader travel overview: Arequipa.
