The Cathedral of Arequipa

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Basílica Catedral de Arequipa http://www.museocatedralarequipa.org.pe/home.html



The Cathedral of Arequipa has, within the last two years, incorporated a very worthwhile museum. Due to the nature of its construction, it does not seem very handicap friendly, so I would not advise even trying it for wheelchair bound individuals. There is a LOT of upstairs climbing to get to the surprise at the end of the tour.



Photography is allowed inside the cathedral but NOT inside the actual museum. This is done primarily for security reasons as they do not want potential thieves mapping out their security systems. There are a LOT of highly valuable artifacts in the museum. I did encourage them to suggest to the management that they have professional quality pictures made of all of the exhibits and sell them on CDs for a reasonable fee at the entry desk. Maybe if enough people suggest that they will actually do it (hint).



Even if you are not Catholic, the museum is full of interesting history and fantastic exhibits. The heavy gold embroidered robes worn by the priests were something to see. There are a great many gold and silver relics and your guide (included with the ten soles per person price) will explain the many displays to you including the religious significance of the articles. I was pleased by the number and quality of the displays.

Saving the best (at least for me) for last: We went all the way to the roof top of the cathedral, where we could actually touch the huge bells in the spires. I don't have much control over where the photos in this blog show up, but trust me, I would much rather take an up close photo of the bells as shown here than just a long telephoto shot of the spire from the ground. To me, this alone was worth the price of admission. How about the picture of the Plaza de Armas? Much cooler from the roof of the cathedral, wouldn't you say? Be sure to check the pictures at the bottom of the page.

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Photos

Cathedral Spire
Ok, would you prefer to take THIS photo......

Bells
.......or this one? Going to the cathedral roof top and being able to photograph and touch the bells was the most special part of the tour for me, personally.