Arequipa
Arequipa was founded on August 15 1540, by Garci Manuel de Carbajal. Its name derives from the Quechua phrase "Arequipai" which means "Yes, stay" and more than a mere coincidence, as the name is a reality that is maintained over time, because on the streets, walls and ashlar people's attitudes, there is a strange force, a strange impulse that invites you to stay in the city.
Located in the foothills of the mountains of western losAndes and at the foot of the Misti volcano, Arequipa (2,350 masl), capital of the department of the same name, is a beautiful city, built in ashlar, a volcanic material of petrified lava, temples Convents and defined by an original architectural style and magical countryside around them that provide a bucolic tone.
In the Historic Center of Arequipa can appreciate the architectural style Arequipa, which is consolidated at the end of the seventeenth century, from the overlap of the Italian Baroque, the plateresco Andean Spanish and originality.
The ancestral mansions, old churches and monasteries were built in ashlar, a pearl and white material, which when illuminated by the Sun, producing a glow, a magnificent aura. For that reason, Arequipa is known as the "White City".
On the outskirts of Arequipa, there are people who maintain fascinating pre-Inca terraces, which are still used by farmers in the districts of Chilina, Socabaya, Paucarpata, and Characato Saband
