Arequipa is known as the White City. Much of its colonial buildings employed the sillar volcanic stone, brought from nearby quarries. It's a beautiful, talc-hued stone, which glows ochre in the early morning or evening light. Although Arequipa is Peru's second city, with a population of around a million, it manages to retain much provincial charm.

Its main square, the Plaza de Armas, must rank among the most imposing and beautiful in the Americas. Its fountain, benches and manicured flower beds are hemmed by the arches of two-story buildings on three sides, while on the fourth, the somewhat confused-looking Cathedral vacillates between baroque and neo-classical and back again.