Plaza de Armas, Basílica Catedral & Iglesia de la Compañía Guide, Arequipa

Laid out on 15 August 1540 when Garcí Manuel de Carbajal planted the royal standard in the Chili Valley, the Plaza de Armas de Arequipa is widely considered the grandest main square in Peru. Framed on three sides by two-storey neo-Renaissance arcades of white volcanic sillar stone (the Portales de Flores, de la Municipalidad, and de San Agustín) around a palm garden and the sixteenth-century bronze fountain sprite El Tuturutu, the square showcases the dramatic contrast between austere nineteenth-century neoclassicism and exuberant seventeenth-century Andean Mestizo Baroque.

1. Basílica Catedral de Arequipa & the Cathedral Museum

Uniquely among Spanish colonial cathedrals, which normally face a plaza narrow-end-on, the Basílica Catedral de Arequipa stretches sideways across the entire 107-metre northern flank of the Plaza de Armas, with seventy Corinthian columns, three monumental portals, and two slender bell towers framing the snow-capped cone of Volcán Misti directly behind the roof:

• The 1844 Reconstruction & Interior Treasures: Rebuilt in white and pink sillar by Arequipa master mason Lucas Poblete following a devastating 1844 fire (and repaired after the 1868 and 2001 earthquakes), the luminous three-aisled nave houses an Italian Carrara marble high altar, twelve hollow wooden apostolic pillars imported from Belgium, a virtuoso carved French oak pulpit from Lille (sculpted by Buisine-Rigot in 1879 showing the horned figure of Satan crushed beneath the preacher's box), and the monumental 1854 Belgian Loret pipe organ (one of the largest nineteenth-century organs in South America).
• Museo de la Catedral & Bell-Tower Roof Walk: Join the guided tour of the Cathedral Museum to view sixteenth- to eighteenth-century gold and emerald monstrances, liturgical vestments woven with gold thread, and the choir loft, finishing out on the open sillar roof vaults and bell towers overlooking the Plaza de Armas; check the cathedral ticket office for current morning and afternoon tour intervals.

2. Iglesia y Claustros de la Compañía de Jesús (1590 to 1698)

At the southeastern corner of the Plaza de Armas stands the supreme masterpiece of Arquitectura Mestiza (Andean Baroque), the Jesuit Iglesia de la Compañía:

• The 1698 Main Portal & 1654 Side Tympanum: Completed in 1698, the main facade reads like an intricate frieze carved in volcanic stone, where European Baroque scrolls intertwine with native Andean cantuta flowers, ears of maize, spiral vines, birds, pumas, and indigenous-featured angels beneath the Jesuit crest, while the 1654 side portal on Calle General Morán depicts Saint James Matamoros flanked by mermaids and volcanic monsters.
• Capilla de San Ignacio (Polychrome Dome): Step through the nave into the former sacristy to behold the Chapel of Saint Ignatius, where every centimetre of the sillar walls and cupola is painted in vivid seventeenth-century tempera murals of tropical Amazonian birds, monkeys, papaya and granadilla vines, warriors, and the Four Evangelists.
• Claustros de la Compañía (1738): Immediately next door on Calle General Morán, walk free of charge through the former Jesuit residence courtyards, where square sillar piers are carved in deep relief with papaya leaves, cherubs, and scallop shells, now housing alpaca boutiques and courtyard cafés.