Photo Essay: The Monastery of Saint Catherine (El Monasterio De Santa Catalina), Arequipa, Peru

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Photo Essay: The Monastery of Saint Catherine (El Monasterio De Santa Catalina), Arequipa, Peru

The silence was rather perturbing. Our daughter Luna must have felt the same, for she broke it the second we stepped in the deserted monastery. Her bawl traveled through alleys and bounced off multihued walls. The echoes greatly multiplied. A depiction of the property's vastness. Over twenty thousand-square-meter-vast, to be more accurate.

Hence it's called 'a city within a city'.

The Monastery of Saint Catherine (El Monasterio De Santa Catalina) in "White City" Arequipa was established in the 1500s. Its wealthy founder Doña María de Guzmán's social standing attracted women from upper class Spanish families to enter the novitiate here. A hefty dowry is paid for one's admission (the nuns' affluence can be determined by their belongings displayed in sleeping cells-turned-exhibit halls today).

This fortune helped the monastery burgeon for years.

A stroll along an empty calle or through colonnades or around a courtyard is a journey back more than four hundred years in time. If novices paid a pricey dowry long ago to get in, tourists these days pay a reasonable 35 soles ($12).

This page was viewed times.

8 comments:

Rovie said... January 30, 2014 at 12:20 AM: Kakaloka mga kababayan natin pag nakakita ng "kano" lol.. minsan to the point na nakakainis. ~_~ hay naku!
pinaytraveljunkie.com said... January 30, 2014 at 9:12 AM: Yes, it's really sad. While some of us try our best to make foreigners feel welcome, there are others who do the opposite :(
michymichymoo said... January 30, 2014 at 11:56 AM: One photo freaked me out. Lol

I could imagine how scary it felt walking around. The whole place seemed empty.
pinaytraveljunkie.com said... January 30, 2014 at 12:51 PM: I think I know which photo you're talkin' bout. Haha! Kinda freaked me out too. Especially cause saw it from outside a window. I thought twas a nun!
Jherson Jaya said... February 1, 2014 at 5:00 PM: This has a "school retreat" feeling, perfect for meditation and to be alone (naks ang emo ko lol) Haha... parang mala-Caleruega except that this one is so colorful.
pinaytraveljunkie.com said... February 1, 2014 at 6:49 PM: It does have that feel!
flipntravels said... February 3, 2014 at 7:52 PM: i can imagine rich novices saying "no puede sentarse aqui" #meangirls #ChicasAntipaticas
pinaytraveljunkie.com said... February 3, 2014 at 8:18 PM: Hahahaha!