Sunday, 31 August 2014
I was supposed to arrive in Arequipa at about 8 am, but on the way there was an overturned truck and there was a 2 hour delay. I reached the hotel at 10.30 am and the city tour began at 11 am! No time to even brush teeth!
Arequipa is the second biggest city in Peru after Lima, with about 1,000,000 people. It is known as the "white city" because most of its buildings are made from local sillar stones, stones from the volcanoes surrounding Arequipa, the 3 most important being El Misti, Chachani and Pichupichu. The streets are all cobble stones, which makes it rustic, quaint and nice to walk.
I began by visiting the La Compania Church and the area surrounding it, the church was built by the Spanish in 1573 but was totally destroyed by an earthquake. It was rebuilt in 1650 and still looks impressive. Then I went to the Plaza de Armas or the main plaza, and overlooking this plaza were buildings made by the Spanish, long rows of buildings on 3 sides of the plazas. It used to be houses of rich men, now they are converted to restaurants, hostels etc. This is a typical design, I saw the same in Ica and Nasca as well. On the fourth side of the main plaza is the cathedral. This was also re-built after earthquakes destroyed it, and it is an impressive sight. Inside, there is a wooden pulpit which was carved in France. There is also a really huge organ inside, apparently the largest in South America. I have no idea how one plays it, it looks as if it was made for a giant.
Then I went to the Convent of Santa Catalina. Part of the complex is still being used by nuns. The convent is extensive, it has its own hospital and streets, like a city within a city. It used to be the custom that the first born daughter would get married, the second would become a nun and the third would take care of the parents. For boys, the first would get married, the second would become a priest and the third will join the army. But in those days they had sometimes up to 25 children so it wasn't a problem for this tradition. It also wasn't easy to be a nun, although in the Santa Catalina Convent it was expensive to become one, the dowry was 2,400 silver coins or 150,000 soles today.
A novice nun begins when she is 12, she has a room to herself and is only allowed to go out twice, at 7 am and 12 pm daily for mass. Food is brought to her and passed through a window, and there is a chamber pot for the toilet. When family visited them, they only talk through a wall, and are not allowed to touch. While many of these nuns came from rich families and received extravagant gifts like silverware from Europe when their families came and visited them, they were not allowed to be given a mirror, because they believed looking at yourself in the mirror gives rise to the sin of vanity. There must always be 2 nuns present during these visits, one to supervise the visit. Then at 16 they are given a choice whether to join the outside world or become nuns. If they chose to become nuns, they move to another part of the convent where they stay in houses, sometimes alone, sometimes up to 3. Up to 4 servants are kept in each house. Apparently all novices became nuns, except one, Francisca Pizarro, the niece of the conquistador, Francisco Pizarro.
Since no one was allowed to see the nuns during their lifetime, no one knew how they looked like. A painter painted the nuns once they died, so you can only see pictures of them with their eyes closed. But there was one nun who died with her eyes open because she was praying when she died; this is the only picture of a nun with her eyes open. They also had to confess at least once a week to a visiting priest, but they usually confessed 2 or 3 times a week. For what, you wonder? Bad thoughts, of course! Imagine 500 women living together in a small cloister. The beds of the nuns are always under an arch, this is to protect them from earthquake. In 1871, all these changed, nuns no longer had individual cells, they slept in just one large dormitory with beds separated by curtains. They also baked cookies, cakes and sweets to be sold to the public for funding. The dowry system was abolished.
A novice nun begins when she is 12, she has a room to herself and is only allowed to go out twice, at 7 am and 12 pm daily for mass. Food is brought to her and passed through a window, and there is a chamber pot for the toilet. When family visited them, they only talk through a wall, and are not allowed to touch. While many of these nuns came from rich families and received extravagant gifts like silverware from Europe when their families came and visited them, they were not allowed to be given a mirror, because they believed looking at yourself in the mirror gives rise to the sin of vanity. There must always be 2 nuns present during these visits, one to supervise the visit. Then at 16 they are given a choice whether to join the outside world or become nuns. If they chose to become nuns, they move to another part of the convent where they stay in houses, sometimes alone, sometimes up to 3. Up to 4 servants are kept in each house. Apparently all novices became nuns, except one, Francisca Pizarro, the niece of the conquistador, Francisco Pizarro.
Since no one was allowed to see the nuns during their lifetime, no one knew how they looked like. A painter painted the nuns once they died, so you can only see pictures of them with their eyes closed. But there was one nun who died with her eyes open because she was praying when she died; this is the only picture of a nun with her eyes open. They also had to confess at least once a week to a visiting priest, but they usually confessed 2 or 3 times a week. For what, you wonder? Bad thoughts, of course! Imagine 500 women living together in a small cloister. The beds of the nuns are always under an arch, this is to protect them from earthquake. In 1871, all these changed, nuns no longer had individual cells, they slept in just one large dormitory with beds separated by curtains. They also baked cookies, cakes and sweets to be sold to the public for funding. The dowry system was abolished.
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