"Villa Hermosa de Arequipa" is the second largest city of Peru, guarded by volcanos - Misti (5822m), Chachani (6075m) and Pichu Picchu (5425m) - spoiled by an exquisite cuisine and admired for its colonial imposing architecture made of sillar stone. Because of this white volcanic stone, the city was also called the White City.
The main square of the city, Plaza de Armas, is one of the most beautiful main squares in Peru. In the north part of the square, the entire length is taken by Arequipa Cathedral who was first destroyed by fire and then by the earthquake of 1868, rebuilt to be again hit by the earthquake in 2001 and rebuilt again. For a fantastic view of the city and volcanoes, go up to the roof of the Cathedral where you can also see the big three bell towers.
Not far from Plaza de Armas you will find The Andean Sanctuaries Museum, known for the extremely well preserved feminine mummy, The Ice Maiden Juanita, which is one of the girls sacrificed by the Incas to the Gods more than 500 years ago. Her body, naturally preserved in ice, was discovered in 1995 on Mount Ampato by anthropologist Johan Reinhard. In order to maintain their relationships with Gods and to be protected from earthquakes or volcanic eruptions the Incas gave to Gods a lot of offerings such as prayers, food, ritual objects, animal blood and even the supreme sacrifice, human beings. They believed in a better afterlife place for all sacrificed children. For the ones interested in this fascinating piece of Inca culture and belief, find more information in Johan Reinhard's book: Johan Reinhard, The Ice Maiden.
I am not a fan of the antiquities if I don't know exactly the story behind, but living in Paris for a while, I somehow developed a pleasure in looking at this stuff around at some point, even if it's a famous antique gallery or just some flea market. I was excited to see that Arequipa has quite a charm from this perspective.
And, after wandering the streets in every antique shop, what are the chances of ending up in a restaurant where there is an antique iron staircase designed by the famous Gustave Eiffel? Well ... in Arequipa the chances are really high thanks to Zig Zag restaurant which I discovered to be not just a nice restaurant with a cozy atmosphere, but a great choice in terms of gastronomy, serving peruvian-italian food.
I must admit that Arequipa's reputation for an inventive gastronomy, combining peruvian with international cuisine is well deserved. It was really hard to decide upon my favorite restaurant, but I must confess that in my 4 day stop in the city, I was a devoted customer of Chicha restaurant. They had an inspiring menu divided in five: from the see, from the earth, from the country, from the world and from Arequipa.
For an authentic experience, you must also try one of their "picanterias", traditional eateries you will find only in Arequipa.
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