Arequipa most known as the "White City", deserves this name because a Arequipagreat extension of the city is made of sillar, a volcanic rock of white color.
It was founded in August 15th, of 1540 by Manuel García de Carbajal, Arequipa is the second most important city of Peru. It is located at 2325 meters (8792 foot) above sea level.
Arequipa is the capital of the province, department and region of the same name. One of its main attractions is the weather, because Arequipa has the best weather of Peru with at least 300 sunny days a year.
There are two ways of getting to Arequipa, one is by bus through the south Pan-American Highway which is the highway that connects Lima with Arequipa and Tacna, on a trip that lasts approximately 13 to 14 hours. And by air, the trip lasts 1 hour approximately.
The city is surrounded by the Chachani, Misti and Pichu Pichu, the three volcanoes that are in the city from which the main is the Misti. To look the imposing Misti, it is recommended to go to Yanahuara which is close to the center of the city. Everything that has to do is cross the river Chili through Grau Bridge; take the Ejercito Avenue and then the Lima Street that goes to a small square.


The city celebrates the foundation with a fair that lasts a week. The artificial lights that shine on the Main Square are spectacular. The city is full of churches and houses that are from the Colonial époque. Santa Catalina, a convent built in 1579, was restored and opened to the public in 1970. It is surrounded for astonishing walls and it is like a city in another city. The monks that lived there lived a life completely secular isolated from the world outside. Now they lived on a smaller zone and the rest of the convent is opened to the public.