Arequipa’s main plaza, unblemished by modern interference, is a museum of the city’s sillar (volcanic rock) architecture – white, muscular and aesthetically unique. Impressive colonnaded balconies line three sides. The fourth is given over to Peru’s widest cathedral, a humongous edifice with two soaring towers. Even this is dwarfed by the dual snowcapped sentinels of El Misti and Chanchani, both visible from various points in the central park.
´¡°ù±ð±ç³Ü¾±±è±ðñ´Ç²õ (inhabitants of Arequipa) are a proud people fond of intellectual debate, especially about their fervent political beliefs, which historically found voice through regular demonstrations in the Plaza de Armas. In mid-2015, protests and traffic were (controversially) banned in and around the plaza to make it more tourist-friendly. Naturally crowds still gather in defiant dissent.
