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TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Arequipa Province

Plaza de Armas
It is surrounded by the Cathedral and three facades made of granite with vaults of bricks and lime: Portal del Cabildo (Portal de la Municipalidad),Portal de las Delicias (Portal de San Agustín) and Portal del Regocijo (Portal de Flores). At the center of the Square there is a beautiful bronze fountain of three baths and on the top the figure of a soldier “Tuturutu” of the XVI century; the person in charge of announcing any news.

The cathedral
This church is made of ashlar (volcanic white stone), with brick vaults. It is neoclassical and the entrances to the temple are in the lateral naves. It is considered to be one of the first religious monuments of the XVII century in the city.
Santa Catalina Convent
It was opened on October 2nd, 1580, after Santa Catalina de Siena, as a cloister center which housed the daughters of the most outstanding families with a religious vocation, and so it kept until August 15th 1970.
It is approximately 20 000 square meters and has rooms with different architectonic styles. Its distribution is very similar to one of the first neighborhoods in Arequipa.

Casa Del Moral
This house dates back form the XVIII century and is one of the oldest and most important baroque buildings in Arequipa. The house is named after a blackberry tree which is in the main garden. It has a room with very old maps of America of the XVI century.

Museo Arqueológico de la Universidad de San Agustín
Museo Arqueológico de la Universidad de San Agustín It shows a collection of stone objects, skeletal remains of human sacrifices, pieces of Nazca culture, Tiahunaco, Huari e Inca, and gold and silver objects from Inca and colonial times.

Museo Santuarios Andinos de la Universidad Católica de Santa María
The main attraction of this museum is the Inca mummy of a 12 – 14 year-old girl, “Juanita” also called “The lady of Ampato”, who was found at the top of Ampato volcano by the andinist Miguel Zárate, the archeologist José Chávez and the anthropologist Johan Reinhard, on September 8, 1995. Apparently this girl was an offering to the Apu Ampato and the mummy is 500 years old.

Museo de Arequeología de la Universidad Católica de Santa María de Arequipa
This museums shows around 1000 objects (ceramics, textiles, funeral bundles, stone, wooden and metal objects) from the year 12000 B. C. to the colonies : Nasca; Tiahunaco, wait, Churajón, Acarí, Aruni and Inca.

Museo de Arte Virreynal Santa Teresa
Alter 295 years, the Monasterio de Carmelitas descalzas de San José, opens its doors to the public as a Museum of Vice Royal Arts. Here we can observe an exclusive sample of canvas paintings, sculpture, and articles worked in precious metals, furniture, decorative arts and everyday use objects. The museum also has: a temple, a low choir, a chapter room and a bells room.

Mansión del Fundador
It is said that the founder of Arequipa, Garcí Manuel de Carbajal, (made it) built it for his son. It is made of ashlar and is located at the edge of a cliff of Socabaya river. The main entrance is a hall with a vaulted roof.

Misti volcano
It is 5825 m. high. From its top we can see Arequipa city, Chili river valley and Chachani and Pichu Pichu volcanoes. Reserva Nacional de Salinas y Aguada Blanca. It is between 2800 and 6050 meters above sea level and in the area are the volcanoes Misti (5825 m.a.s.l.), Chachani (6075 m.a.s.l.) and Pichu Pichu (5664 m.a.s.l.) It is about 367 000 hectare. Among the most representative species there are: the vizcacha, fox, condor and the Andean flamingo or parihuana. Salinas Lake is considered a privileged place to observe parihuanas at migration time.

Colca Valley
Colca valley is part of the tectonic plaque and has a volcano in activity called Sabancaya, located at the volcanic area of Hualca Hualca. This valley has a great diversity of flora and fauna. Among the most representative species are the condor, kestrel, falcon and Andean partridge.

Colca Canyon
It is one of the deepest of the planet. It's deepest point at the town of Canco, a depth of 3400 meters. It is next to the volcanoes Hualca Hualca, Sabancaya and Ampato.

Santuario Nacional Lagunas de Mejía
This santuary is 690.6 hectares and has habitats like swamps, salty quagmires, reed fields, mountains and sandy beaches. We can observe 195 bird species 75 species are residents (we can find them through all the year), 6 specie are residents at the sea and 80 are migratory birds that travel from several and distant places like the Peruvian jungle or the Arctic.

Petroglifos de Toro Muerto
This place is constituted by a conglomerate of engravings in an area of 5 square kilometers. These engravings show pictures of human beings, animals and plants, as well as geometrical designs. The techniques used include, engraving and striking.

Antigua, Valley of Volcanoes
The Valley of Volcanoes was the center of tremors of the volcanic range 200 000 years ago. We can observe a big lava layer above which around 86 small volcanoes have grown.

Cotahuasi Valley and Canyon
This canyon has a great biological diversity in flora and fauna. The Cotahuasi canyon has zones and three ecological regions. It is considered the deepest canyon of Perú (3535 m.) On the way to Cotahuasi we can observe Coropuna volcano (6425 m.) which top is considered the highest in Arequipa and the third highest in Peru.

Archeological Remains of Quebrada de la Waca or Puerto Inca
Here we find remains which date back from the 15th and 16th century, indicating Inca presence. Some archaeologists and historians think that this place was the origin of one of the most important Inca trails, which after entering the territory of Ayacucho led to Cusco.

Beaches Circuit.
This place is marked outstands by its beautiful beaches spread along the Pacific Ocean such as : La Punta; Cerrilos, el Chorro, las Cuevas; Quilca, La Miel, Arantas, Honoratos, la Playuela, etc. Some of its beaches are visited by people fond of fishing and sports adventures.