Arequipa Historic Center Self-Guided Audio Walk: Plaza de Armas, Cathedral and Carved Sillar Churches
1 hour and 25 minutes
About this experience
Arequipa is built of sillar, a white volcanic stone soft enough to carve and strong enough to vault. Earthquakes struck in 1582, 1784, 1868 and 2001, and each time the city rebuilt in the same stone, in the same place. Start in the Plaza de Armas, whose arcades are younger than they look, then read the cathedral's two towers, rebuilt two different ways after 2001. Touch bare sillar in the lane behind it and see a theater carved in the old manner in 1940. Then the great carved doors: Santo Domingo's, which outlived its church; La Compañía's front of 1698, a tapestry of cactus, grapes and masks; and San Agustín's, which stood through 1868. Pass the Casa Goyeneche and the museum that keeps Juanita, an Inca offering found on a volcano. Eleven stops, about 1.9 km and 85 minutes, in English and Spanish, at your own pace. Mostly level. Museum entries are not included.
- Experience type
- Day tour or activity
- Duration
- 1 hour and 25 minutes
- Guide
- Spanish, English
- Audio guide
- Spanish, English
- Categories
- Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours
What's included
Self-guided audio tour in English and Spanish: 11 stops, 1.9 km, 85 minutes Stops at cathedral, carved church doors of Santo Domingo, La Compañía and San Agustín GPS map and walking directions in your phone browser, no app needed Lifetime access: start any day, at any hour, and replay it
What's not included
A live guide: you set the pace and the pauses A fixed start time: begin whenever you arrive Museum and monument tickets, all optional extras Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee
Please note
To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Bring a charged phone and earphones. Mobile data helps; if you have none, open the tour on wifi before you set off. Best time: Monday to Saturday, from mid-morning: the cathedral museum opens at 10:00 and the free central-bank museum in the Casa Goyeneche at 09:15, and both are closed on Sundays. The sun is strong at midday; the plaza's arcades and the Pasaje de la Catedral are the only shade. In October, San Agustín's Señor de los Milagros processions can fill the street at the end of the walk on procession days. Getting to the start: take a taxi to the Plaza de Armas and get out at one of its corners (the plaza itself is car-free). From the airport it is about 9 km, 20 to 30 minutes; from the Terrapuerto bus terminal about 4 km, 10 to 15 minutes. Cathedral museum and bell tower: entrance by the side door on Calle Santa Catalina, Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 16:15, closed on Sundays, about 40 minutes. The official site gives no price; about 10 soles has been reported, so bring cash. Checked 6 October 2026. Casa Goyeneche (MUCEN Arequipa, Banco Central de Reserva): free, Monday to Saturday 09:15 to 17:00, closed on Sundays, free lockers. In October 2026 its exhibition is "NACIÓN, imaginar el Perú desde el MUCEN", with mediated tours "Fiestas y rituales del Perú" on 17, 24 and 31 October. Checked 6 October 2026. Museo Santuarios Andinos (Juanita): visits are guided by museum staff only, bags go to lockers and photos are not allowed in Juanita's room. Its official page could not be reached on 6 October 2026; the last capture (April 2025) gave about 25 soles for foreign adults. Confirm hours at the door. The Claustros de la Compañía, the Jesuit cloister beside stop 7 with its entrance on General Morán, is a free courtyard of shops and cafes, open Monday to Saturday (Diario Correo, 2023). The Casa Tristán del Pozo at stop 4 is a working bank office with a free art gallery inside (BBVA, 2018); step in if the door is open. To see sillar cut from the rock, the Añashuayco quarries are about 30 minutes by car from the plaza. Arequipa sits at about 2,335 m. Most visitors feel little, but drink water and go easy on your first day. The sun is strong all year at this altitude: bring a hat and sunscreen. Pavements on Calle La Merced and General Morán are about a meter wide, and the side streets are narrow one-ways with fast taxis. Two crossings have no lights: Calle San Juan de Dios (city buses) after stop 6 and Calle Palacio Viejo after stop 7. Not step-free inside the churches and the cathedral forecourt; the route itself is at street level. Repairs to the pedestrian streets (Mercaderes, San Francisco, Santa Catalina, Álvarez Thomas) were announced in December 2025; whether they are under way was not known on 6 October 2026. Follow any marked detour. In October, masses and processions of the Señor de los Milagros at San Agustín can fill or close Calle San Agustín; the 2026 dates were not published by 6 October 2026. Churches open around mass times and close for part of the day; do not walk in during a service. The plaza hosts ceremonies, events and protests. After dark, keep to the busier streets around the plaza; the stretch south of La Compañía to La Merced is the quietest part of the walk. Public transportation nearby
Itinerary
- 1Day 0
Plaza de Armas: Arcades Younger Than They Look
Plaza de Armas, Arequipa
The square the White City was laid out from. The cathedral fills one side, arcades rebuilt after earthquakes line the other three, and a bronze trumpeter stands on the fountain.
- 2Day 0
Basílica Catedral: Rebuilt on the Same Spot
Calle Plaza de Armas, Arequipa
A cathedral rebuilt after quakes and fire. Lucas Poblete's white sillar front fills a whole side of the plaza, and its two towers were repaired in two different ways after 2001.
- 3Day 0
Pasaje de la Catedral: The Stone Undressed
Pasaje de la Catedral, Arequipa
A lane of plain stone behind the cathedral. Here sillar is bare: no carving, just coursed blocks of the light volcanic rock the whole city is built from.
- 4Day 0
Casa Tristán del Pozo: Faith over the Windows
121 Calle San Francisco, Arequipa
A house front carved in 1738. Three windows with double lintels carry carved monograms of the Virgin Mary; today it is a bank with a free gallery.
- 5Day 0
Calle Mercaderes: A Theater Carved in 1940
240 Calle Mercaderes, Arequipa
A shopping street where carving never stopped. The Teatro Municipal, with its sillar front, was built in 1940, the city's four-hundredth year, and reopened in 2024.
- 6Day 0
Santo Domingo: The Door That Outlived the Church
149 Calle Santo Domingo, Arequipa
A Dominican church rebuilt after earthquakes. Its eight-sided tower stands at the corner, and a side door carved in the 1600s is among the oldest in Arequipa.
- 7Day 0
La Compañía: A Tapestry in Stone
102 General Morán, Arequipa
The Jesuit front of 1698 that became a model. Cactus, grapes, masks and a two-headed eagle are carved flat across it, and round the corner is a side door of 1654.
- 8Day 0
La Merced: Plain by Earthquake
280 Calle Consuelo, Arequipa
A church worn plain by repeated rebuilding. The Mercedarians came eight years after the founding, and so many repairs left their church with little carving.
- 9Day 0
Casa Goyeneche: The Whole City in One House
202 Calle La Merced, Arequipa
A house rebuilt many times since about 1558. Its white front with flat pilasters and a full-width iron balcony is now the central bank's free museum.
- 10Day 0
Museo Santuarios Andinos: The Girl from Ampato
223 Calle La Merced, Arequipa
A museum of an Inca volcano offering. Juanita, a girl in her early teens, was found near the summit of Ampato in September 1995; visits are guided.
- 11Day 0
San Agustín: The Front That Stood
Calle San Agustín, Arequipa
A carved front that survived the 1868 quake. Behind it, the cloister where the city's public university began; today the sanctuary of the Lord of Miracles.
Meeting point
Plaza de Armas, Arequipa Plaza de Armas, Arequipa, Arequipa, PE
Pick up
Pickup is not provided.
Cancellation policy · Arequipa Historic Center Self-Guided Audio Walk: Plaza de Armas, Cathedral and Carved Sillar Churches
Standard Viator policy
- Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
- Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.
Good to know
Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.