Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
AREQUIPA
054 / POP 864,300 / ELEV 2350M
It's hard playing second fiddle to Cuzco and Machu Picchu on Peru's international tourist
circuit, not that this little detail makes the average
arequipeño
jealous. Other Peruvians
joke that you need a different passport to enter Peru's second-largest city, a metropolis one-
tenth of the size of the capital Lima but pugnaciously equal to it in terms of cuisine, histor-
ical significance and confident self-awareness. Guarded by not one but
three
dramatic vol-
canoes, the city enjoys a resplendent, if seismically precarious setting - earthquakes regu-
larly wrack this region, the last big one causing significant damage in 2001. Fortunately,
the city's architecture, a formidable ensemble of baroque-
mestizo
buildings grafted out of
the local white
sillar
rock, has so far withstood most of what Mother Earth has thrown at it.
In 2000 the city's central core earned a well-deserved Unesco World Heritage listing and
the sight of the gigantic cathedral, with the ethereal image of 5825m El Misti rising behind
it, is worth a visit alone. Pretty cityscapes aside, Arequipa has played a fundamental role in
Peru's gastronomic renaissance; classic spicy dishes such as
rocoto relleno, chupe de ca-
marones
and
ocopa
best enjoyed in the city's communal
picantería
restaurants, all hail
from here.
Arequipeños
are also a proud people fond of intellectual debate, especially about
their fervent political beliefs, which find voice through regular demonstrations in the Plaza
de Armas. Not surprisingly, the city has produced one of Latin America's most influential
novelists, Mario Vargas Llosa, the literary genius who ran unsuccessfully for the Peruvian
presidency in 1990.
History
Evidence of pre-Inca settlement by indigenous peoples from the Lake Titicaca area leads
some scholars to think the Aymara people first named the city (
ari
means 'peak' and
quipa
means 'lying behind' in Aymara; hence, Arequipa is 'the place lying behind the peak' of El
Misti). However, another oft-heard legend says that the fourth
inca
(king), Mayta Cápac,
was traveling through the valley and became enchanted by it. He ordered his retinue to
stop, saying,
'Ari, quipay,'
which translates as 'Yes, stay.' The Spaniards refounded the city
on August 15, 1540, a date that is remembered with a week-long fair.
Arequipa is built in an area highly prone to natural disasters; the city was totally des-
troyed by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in 1600 and has since been rocked by major
earthquakes in 1687, 1868, 1958, 1960 and, most recently, in 2001. For this reason, many
of the city's buildings are built low for stability. Despite the disasters, many fetching histor-
ic structures survive.
