Developing late as a provincial capital, and until 1870 connected only by mule track with the rest of Peru, it is considered the nation's second biggest and arguably, after Cusco, most attractive city. Most Arequipans feel themselves distinct, if not culturally superior, and even have their own passport. This view is from the Plaza de Armas showing the badly damaged Cathedral, a seventeenth-century structure, as well as "El Misti", a 5821-meter dormant volcano.

©Erwin Bakx 2001