Museum sights in Arequipa
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Museo Santury
Officially the Museo de la Universidad Católica de Santa María, this museum exhibits ‘Juanita, the ice princess’ – the frozen body of an Inca maiden sacrificed on the summit of Nevado Ampato, a snow-covered volcano to the northwest of Arequipa, more than 500 years ago. Multilingual tours (available in Spanish, English, French, German and Italian) consist of a video followed by an examination of various burial artifacts, culminating in a respectful viewing of the frozen mummy, preserved in a carefully monitored glass-walled exhibition freezer. Although Juanita is not on display from January to April, another child sacrifice discovered in the mountains around Arequipa is …
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Museo de Arte Virreinal de Santa Teresa
This gorgeous 17th-century Carmelite convent was only recently opened to the public as a living museum. The colonial-era buildings are justifiably famed for their decoratively painted walls and restored rooms filled with priceless votive objets d’art, murals, precious metalworks, colonial-era paintings and other historical artifacts. It is all capably explained by student tour guides who speak Spanish, English, French, German and Portuguese; tips are appreciated. A charming shop at the front of the complex sells baked goods and rose-scented soap made by the nuns.
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Museo Regional Histórico Etnológico Municipal
The small Museo Regional Histórico Etnológico Municipal is housed in a tumbledown colonial building. Paintings, historical documents, maps and other paraphernalia pertaining to the city's history are displayed here. Most interesting are the satirical caricatures of stately 19th-century Peruvian elite.
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