No doubt Santa Catalina is that historical legacy that transports you to the ancient Arequipa of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. And that’s what it feels like when you travel through this kind of mini-city within the city.
In itself it is a great privilege to be in a place like this. It was a great idea that at the time they gave it intact to the private company to make it tourist, since 1970 (after intense negotiations) it has opened its doors to the public, after spending 400 years in total confinement.
Access to the monastery is to enter a small colonial city surrounded by a room, squares, streets, neighborhoods, passages, etc; that keep a great harmony before the eyes. After paying your ticket, the first place you enter is the “Patio del silencio”, place of passage to reach the “Sala de Labores”, a place where you can find a representation in real size of the Last Supper, figures that have 200 years of antiquity and the image of Santa Catalina de Siena (fourteenth century Italian saint, in honor of her the name was given to the monastery).
The story tells that Doña María de Guzmán decides to embrace religious life after becoming a widow, so she donates almost all her fortune and in this way begins the construction of the monastery, which would become the home of Dominican nuns. In those times all Spanish families forced one of their daughters to embrace religious life, their goal was simple: they wanted to secure a place in paradise.
But our surprise would be greater when we enter the “Claustro Novicias”, on top of the beautiful ashlar walls in the passages, there are many paintings and religious paintings … they are the litanies of Lauretania (the litanies are prayers and praises that became fashionable in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries). These paintings had the function of reminding the novices of the prayer, who generally did not know how to read or write. They were other times and looked for options to facilitate their duties. The route has just begun and the movie stages abound everywhere, it is certainly highly recommended to bring a camera with a lot of memory, because photos here are to be taken by lots.
We go to the “Claustro de los Naranjos” or “Cloister of Calvary”, environment that changes the red of the walls by an intense blue. This place is named for the orange trees that exist in this square and also 3 crosses are observed. It is an environment where the religious represent the passion of Christ in Holy Week. In this cloister Malaga Street begins that leads you to the “Sala Zurbaran”, room that today is the convent museum, many relics are appreciated as tableware of that time, altarpieces, etc; but the most outstanding here is the impressive picture of San Miguel Arcangel.
One issue that caused us great surprise, is that the nuns were laundresses, but not just their own clothes, if not street orders. Other this want to explain their skillful water system used in laundry, a whole engineering work. If we think that his life was too boring, because in practice it probably was not, in the mini-city there was a whole life of chores and prayer, at all times they kept busy.
The next environment is the Plaza Zocodober, which has a beautiful pool and here is enabled the only staircase to the ceiling, to an environment that serves as a lookout. It is a place that is full of people at all times since everyone wants to take a selfie with the Chachani volcano. Then we go to the Mayor cloister, where the confessionals and pictures of the life of Jesus and Mary are located.
The Pinacoteca is an environment that once served as a bedroom for the more than 400 nuns who lived in the monastery. This is an environment full of beautiful paintings that represent different passages of religious life, but what is most striking is “The Custody”, an incredible and beautiful piece of gold made by artisans of the colony, which served to place the host after consecrating it.
In short Santa Catalina is an inspired poem come true. The sublime, the sacred and the historical combine perfectly in their unique place to delight tourists. In the end we finished a little tired but pleased with the visit and we went to his cafeteria to drink something for the heat.