Santa Catalina Monastery
The convent of Santa Catalina is located near the center of the Peruvian city of Arequipa in the Andes at over 2300 meters above sea level and is one of the main sights of the city.
History
The monastery was founded in 1579 by the wealthy widow María de Guzmán. The viceroy of Peru, Francisco de Toledo, had previously approved the construction. Santa Catalina was a self-sufficient city with about 20,000 m² area in the Arequipa known as the " White City" and was repeatedly damaged by earthquakes. Until a few decades ago the system was isolated from the outside world. Only after a renovation, the monastery was opened to the public in 1970. Since then, Santa Catalina is one of the main attractions in southern Peru. Due to the nearly 400 -year seclusion is a complete town received with Moorish architecture. About Southern Spain, the Moroccan construction came to Peru. The streets in the monastery named after Spanish cities.
Originally, the monastery was a boarding school for the daughters of wealthy Spanish families. The second daughter of the family was already assigned in childhood to the monastery. The novices had to first go through a trial period and prove themselves through an examination of the recording. As a dowry, the new recruits secessionists had to hand over the monastery gold coins. Santa Catalina has been home to up to 150 nuns and 300 servants. The maid washed the clothes of the nuns and completed for them to purchase. The nuns were not allowed to leave the monastery and no visitors from outside they could get to see. On special occasions, a short conversation by a wooden lattice was possible. However, at least temporarily, the strict enclosure was relaxed. Thus the French writer and women's rights activist Flora Tristan could remain there for six days as a guest in 1834. In her travelogue from Peru, she describes in detail the monastery and the way of life of the nuns of Santa Catalina. According to Flora Tristan they lived far more informal than their strict rule, it might have been expected.
The few today still living in the convent nuns live in a wing of the facility. The other areas can be visited, but the route is marked by arrows on the road.