The “White City”, or Arequipa is where we were headed next. Called the white city because of the stiller or white volcanic ash used to build many of the buildings.
Across the street from our hostel was the museum housing Juanita, the “Ice Madien”. She’s one of the bodies that was discovered in 1995 on the Amaputo volcano here in Peru. They say she was between 12-14 years old when she was sacrificed by the Inka’s to appease the gods. 11 other such “mummies” have been discovered on the surrounding mountains. She’s extremely well preserved as she became frozen shortly after death. The museum keeps her at a cool -20C to ensure her continued preservation. Very interesting film about how she was discovered and the guides do a good job at explaining the other artifacts on display and how they relate to Juanita and the sacrificial ceremony. Coming out of the museum we heard some music coming from the plaza and decided to check it out. It was yet another festival . This one was celebrating farmers from the surrounding regions. Everyone was in their ceremonial dress and they were parading and dancing around the plaza.
We visited the Monastero de Santa Catalina a very picturesque place. This monastery is still home to a group of cloistered nuns, however, the majority of the 5 acres are open to the public for tours. This place began in 1579 allowing only well to do women to become nuns. The family was required to pay a dowery. After completing a few years as a novice, the nun would be granted a house on the grounds and have servants or slaves doing the cooking and cleaning. Not a bad life back in those days. The nuns usually lived twice as long as rest of the population because they were sequestered from many of the rampant illnesses, had better sanitary conditions, and plenty of food to eat.
We also visited the market and took a city bus tour to see some of the other sights around.
