Arequipa It is the second most populous city in the country with a total of 1 million 121 thousand 500 inhabitants. It is the official headquarters of constitutional Court and it is an important industrial and commercial center of Peru, as well as one of the departments with the greatest economic activity in tourism, with its beautiful cathedrals, valleys, volcanoes and the Colca Canyon and of course be extraordinary gastronomy.
Curious as it may seem, in the national community the fact that it is also known as the “White City” It has generated quite a few doubts among some Arequipeños and foreigners, who assure that this color is due to the skin color of its former inhabitants, a vision that is quite far removed from the reality that we present to you below.
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White as its streets
Arequipa is known as the White City due to its architecture built with the white volcanic stone called ashlar, that weather resistant and anti-seismic. Its use began at the end of the 16th century.. This volcanic stone (caused by the settling of ash) is white or exceptionally pink.
Its texture is soft, light and weather resistant, which is why it emerged as a privileged anti-seismic structural solution and a great alternative to adobe. It is extracted from quarries located in natural streams located in the province of Arequipa.
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For this reason we can see in the streets of Arequipa large constructions of ashlar, such as arches, pools, temples, convents, museums, banks, institutional headquartersas well as hotels and restaurants that give it a particular stamp.
