Santa Catalina Monastery in Arequipa: Visitor’s Guide and Prices

What is the Santa Catalina Monastery, and why is it famous?

The Santa Catalina Monastery is one of the most iconic places in Arequipa and a must-visit attraction. Walking through its vast walled complex—spanning more than 215,000 square feet—feels like traveling back several centuries, thanks to its excellent preservation and the richness of its history.

Founded in 1579 by María de Guzmán, the monastery was designed as an exclusive space for women from wealthy Spanish families, who had to pay a substantial dowry to enter. The choir nuns lived in great comfort: they had private rooms, servants, and valuable belongings such as artwork, fine furniture, and textiles brought even from Europe and Asia.

In 1871, the monastery was reformed at the initiative of Pope Pius IX, who sent Sister Josefa Cadena to modernize convent life. During this process, privileges were removed, servants were freed, and the nuns were allowed to decide whether or not to continue in religious life. At its peak, Santa Catalina housed around 150 nuns and 300 assistants. Among its most notable figures is Sister Ana de los Ángeles, known for alleged miracles and later beatified.

Although it suffered damage from earthquakes in the 1960s, the complex was restored with support from the World Monuments Fund. Today, the monastery feels like a small city within the city, with narrow streets, cloisters, plazas, chapels, and buildings made of sillar—the white volcanic stone that gave Arequipa its nickname, the White City.

Today, the monastery is open to the public every day and still houses a small group of nuns. It also offers night visits on Tuesdays and Thursdays—an especially memorable experience that lets you see the place in a different, more atmospheric setting.

Santa Catalina Monastery location

The monastery is located in Arequipa’s historic center, within the area recognized as a World Cultural Heritage site.

Reference address: Calle Santa Catalina, Cercado de Arequipa—one block from Arequipa’s Plaza de Armas.

Its strategic location allowed for seclusion without moving far from the heart of the city.

How to get there from Arequipa’s Plaza de Armas

Distance: about 200 meters (650 ft).

• Walking time: 2 to 3 minutes—an easy, fully pedestrian route that’s well marked and accessible.
• By taxi: from anywhere in the historic center, the ride is usually under 5 minutes.

Practical info: ticket prices and opening hours for the Santa Catalina Monastery

Visiting the Santa Catalina Monastery and joining a city tour of the White City is one of the most complete cultural experiences in Arequipa. To plan your visit properly, it helps to know the entrance fees, official hours, and special options.

Santa Catalina Monastery ticket cost

Entrance fees (reference and up to date)

• International tourists: approximately S/ 45 – $15
• Peruvian citizens: approximately S/ 20
• National students: discounted rate (with a valid student ID).
• Children: different rates depending on age.

The monastery is sustained mainly through these ticket sales, which have supported its restoration after 20th-century earthquakes and its preservation as a heritage site open to the public.

Santa Catalina Monastery opening hours

The Santa Catalina Monastery is open every day of the year except Good Friday, December 25, and January 1. Hours are Thursday through Monday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Tuesday and Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Price: general admission is S/ 40 (about $13). However, the monastery offers special rates for certain groups, such as Peruvian university students, seniors, school students, and foreign visitors up to age 21. Ask at the ticket office about discounts before purchasing your entry ticket.

Guide: the ticket price for the Santa Catalina Monastery includes entry only. If you want a more complete experience and a deeper understanding of this magical place, consider hiring a guide. A guided visit costs S/ 20 (about $6) in addition to the ticket, and the tour lasts around two hours.

Best time to visit the Santa Catalina Monastery: Arequipa has a fairly stable climate, with moderate rainfall between January and March, so you can visit the monastery comfortably year-round.

What to see inside the Santa Catalina Monastery

The Santa Catalina Monastery is one of the best-preserved colonial religious complexes in Latin America. Founded in 1579 by the widow María de Guzmán, it operated for more than 400 years as a convent of strict enclosure, almost completely isolated from the rest of the city.

The colorful cloisters: orange, blue, and white

Color in Santa Catalina isn’t just decorative—it’s symbolic and functional, reflecting the spirituality and internal order of the convent.

Orange Cloister

• One of the oldest sections of the complex.
• The ochre-orange tone is associated with material renunciation and penitence.
• This is where stricter religious activities took place.
• The architecture is sober, with tall walls and enclosed passageways that reinforce a sense of seclusion.

Blue Cloister

• Inspired by Andalusian and Mediterranean tradition.
• Blue symbolizes the sky, eternity, and divine protection.
• One of the most harmonious areas, with inner gardens and narrow corridors.
• It reflects a later stage of the convent, when internal life became more organized and stable.

White Cloister

• Built entirely from white sillar, Arequipa’s signature volcanic stone.
• It represents purity, silence, and contemplation.
• One of the brightest and most peaceful spaces in the monastery.

From a historical perspective, these cloisters represent stages of religious formation and internal hierarchy within the community.

The nuns’ cells and daily life in the past

Each cell functioned like a small colonial home.

Unlike the traditional idea of an austere convent, in Santa Catalina many nuns lived in spacious cells—especially those from wealthy families.

They included:

• Bedroom.
• Private kitchen.
• Oratory.
• Inner courtyard.

Some nuns entered with substantial dowries, which allowed for better living conditions.

Many lived with servants, which was common in the colonial era.

From a social perspective, the monastery mirrored the viceroyal class structure—even within a religious space.

The kitchen, laundry area, and convent art gallery

• Built with volcanic-stone stoves.
• Clay pots and traditional utensils were used.
• The nuns baked their own bread, sweets, and daily meals.
• It was a key space for the convent’s self-sufficiency.

The laundry area

• A colonial hydraulic system based on stone channels.
• Large aligned clay basins, each with a specific use.
• It worked by gravity, taking advantage of the terrain’s slope.
• A remarkable example of colonial domestic engineering.

The art gallery

• Houses works from the 17th and 18th centuries.
• Features mainly religious paintings from the Cusco School.
• Many works were created by Indigenous and mestizo artists.
• They help explain visual evangelization during the Viceroyalty period.

The viewpoint and its connection to the volcanoes

From the highest points of the monastery, you can see the main volcanoes surrounding Arequipa:

• Chachani Volcano.
• Pichu Pichu Volcano.
• Misti Volcano.

For the nuns, the volcanoes weren’t just part of the landscape—they were symbols of divine presence, natural guardians of the city, and reminders of God’s power over nature.