There are many great reasons to visit Arequipa and the Santa Catalina Monastery is definitely a highlight in this fascinating city. The history of the beautiful and sizeable grounds (approximately 215,000 square feet) is fascinating and walking around the grand walled complex will immediately take you back in time a few hundred years.
Built in 1579, the founder of the monastery was Maria de Guzman, a wealthy widow. According to traditions of the time the second daughter (or son) would give their life to service in the church. However Santa Catalina was exclusive and Maria chose to only accept women from upper-class Spanish families who paid a dowry upon admission. The cost to be a choir nun was approximately US$150,000 today, and each one had their own private quarters and a servant upon entry. They were also required to bring statues, paintings, lamps, and clothes and some even brought English china, silk curtains and rugs.
In 1871 Sister Josefa Cadena was sent to Arequipa by Pope Pius IX to reform the monastery. She sent dowries back to Europe and freed all the servants and slaves. The nuns had the choice to remain in service or leave the church. At the height of its success, Santa Catalina housed approximately 150 nuns and 300 servants. One such nun, Sor Ana, was renowned for her accurate predictions of the future and the miracles she performed.
The monastery was damaged twice during earthquakes in 1960s, however has since been restored by the World Monuments Fund. What remains today is essentially a small village with narrow streets and a myriad of colorful buildings arranged in cloisters with living quarters, a plaza, a gallery and a chapel. Much of the compound is built from sillar, the white volcanic rock which gives Arequipa its nickname of The White City. While the monastery is now open to the general public for viewing, approximately twenty nuns still reside in the complex.
The grounds can be visited most days and on Tuesday and Thursday evening you have the option of taking a tour by candlelight retracing the footsteps of the Dominican nuns of the past.
