Silence – a Prayer – Colorful town within a town
Silencio — the word greets us at the gate of the Santa Catalina Monastery in Arequipa, la Ciudad Blanca. Inside lies a town within a town, its streets named Calle Toledo and Calle Sevilla. For centuries, wealthy families sent one of their daughters here to dedicate their lives to prayer and worship. The walls glow in colors from ocher brown to maritime blue, while orange trees in the patios shine in the nearly constant sun. We wander through rooms where nuns once lived in humble luxury, imagining how celestial sounds echoed through the cloisters. A dove drinks from a fountain — symbol of peace, water of life — as silence lingers in the painted streets.
