Location: Santa Catalina 301, El Cercado District, Province, and Region of Arequipa.

Distance from Arequipa Downtown: 3 blocks from the Main Square

• Occupying 20,000 square meters, the monastery was built as a small enclosed citadel with several small streets, plazas, rooms, churches, and even a cemetery. The material used to build the monastery is "El Sillar," a whitish volcanic stone.
• The monastery was built to be a religious enclosure for nuns of Creole, mestizo, and indigenous origin (mainly from the city of Arequipa). The nuns occupied rooms based on their economic condition. For instance, rich nuns were assigned larger quarters, and their servants were not allowed to leave the monastery.
• The monastery offers a guided service in English as well as other languages. The guided tour takes about one hour and a half hour with the possibility of staying inside the citadel to wander around. The entrance ticket doesn't include this obligatory guided tour; therefore, a tip is expected.
• Most of the visit is outdoors; therefore, sunscreen should be used. Arequipa has a high solar radiation.
• The Monastery is located at 2,335 meters above sea level; therefore, altitude sickness could be an issue.

Restrictions:

• Walking on the walls or entering locked rooms is prohibited.