Mansions and Monuments
The civil architecture of viceregal Arequipa has left behind splendid testimonies in the form of the family mansions that dot the city’s historic center. Erected between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries in sillar stone, the mansions stand out for their exquisite carved façades, their immense front doors of studded wood, their courtyards and gardens with their distinct Moorish influence, their spacious rooms with vaulted ceilings, their traditional decorations and furniture, and the works of European and Mestizo art on display. In the twentieth century, many of these buildings were acquired by institutions and private businesses and carefully restored as part of the city’s tourist circuit. A visit to these mansions offers a glimpse into the lives of one of the region’s social classes, noted for their great wealth and their taste for the finer things in life.
