We have been travelling for two days, but we have now arrived at Arequipa, Peru.
It is about 1,000 Kms south of the capital, Lima and is over 2,000 metres above sea level. It is a large city that is surrounded by three large volcanoes that dominate the skyline.
We did a tour of the city and then stopped at the Santa Catalina monastery for a guided tour. I was feeling quite tired, what with the jet lag and altitude, but it was on the itinerary and highly rated.
The monastery dates from when the Spanish settled/invaded the area and construction started in 1579. It was destroyed in an earthquake in 1600, she then again in 1604.
Surprisingly to me, they started to rebuild it again, and they must have improved their construction techniques because this time it survived, although lots of sections have been repaired..
At that time each Spanish family sent one of their children to become either a monk or a nun. Allegedly this was an honour and also bought the family a direct route to heaven, no matters what sins they commited in their lifetime.
The girls went in at about age 13 and after a small amount of contact for a few years, they never saw their family again.
I thought that this was terrible, but gradually the guide led us further inside the monastery and the story began to change.
The families of the girls at this monastery were rich and paid a lifetime dowry when they entered of about the equivalent today of 200,000 US dollars. The girls/nuns could also ask for extra privileges and so they could have private rooms, and as time went by this turned into private villas. (They paid extra for this.)
They could also have up to four servants to cook and clean for them, they had beautiful flower filled courtyards and even pets.
This photo is of where the servants came to do the washing. It was a rill with water running down the middle and then massive terracotta jars sliced in half that were used as bowls. The servants put a little rock in the rill to divert the water through a little pipe into the bowl, and then used a carrot to act as a plug at the base!
The whole place was so lovely and peaceful, and the guide kept telling us to imagine it filled with flowers, candles, cakes, wine, birds, pets and nuns wandering around.
There was great views from the rooftop and by then I had changed my mind and thought what a nice time the nuns had in comparison to life outside.
They lived to an average age of 60, compared to 40 outside, and they were totally protected from all of the civil wars and fighting between the Spanish and the local people as they were never invaded or attacked.
It was a brilliant place to visit, but it's a very long way from England.
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