Arequipa: UNESCO White City, Sillar Architecture & Colca Canyon

Founded on 15 August 1540 in a fertile Andean oasis watered by the Río Chili, Arequipa sits at a comfortable altitude of 2,335 metres (7,661 feet) under more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Over four centuries, indigenous and Creole stonemasons carved blocks of pearlescent white and salmon-pink volcanic ignimbrite (sillar), deposited by ancient eruptions of the Chachani and Misti volcanic complex, into vaulted convents, twin-towered churches, and grand courtyard mansions. Recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2000, Peru's second city is both a masterpiece of Andean Mestizo Baroque architecture and the ideal acclimatisation gateway between sea-level Lima and high-altitude Cusco.

How Arequipa Is Organised for Visitors

• UNESCO Centro Histórico & Barrio de San Lázaro (East Bank): Centred on the double-tiered sillar portals of Plaza de Armas, the Basílica Catedral, and Iglesia de la Compañía, this walkable grid holds the 20,000-square-metre Monasterio de Santa Catalina, the Museo Santuarios Andinos (Juanita), the 1881 Mercado San Camilo, and the narrow pre-Hispanic alleys of San Lázaro.
• Yanahuara, Cayma & Chilina Valley (West Bank): Linked to the centre by the 1888 stone arches of Puente Grau and Puente Bolognesi, the western bank climbs gently to the nine inscribed sillar arches of Mirador de Yanahuara and the pre-Inca agricultural terraces of Carmen Alto.
• Surrounding Volcanoes, Quarries & Canyons: Fourteen kilometres northwest lie the active white stone quarries of the Ruta del Sillar; northeast stretches the vicuña-filled puna of Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve; and 160 kilometres north plunges the Colca Canyon.

Why Acclimatising in Arequipa Works So Well

Travellers who fly straight from sea level to 3,400 metres often struggle with acute mountain sickness during their first forty-eight hours. Spending two or three sunny days walking at 2,335 metres in Arequipa allows your body to adjust naturally before crossing the 4,910-metre Patapampa pass into the Colca Valley or continuing to Lake Titicaca and Cusco.