Santa Catalina Convent is located in Peru, in the city of Arequipa. The monastery was founded by the nuns of the Dominican Order in 1579, 40 years after the emergence of the city of Arequipa. The initiator of the construction of the Catholic monastery in the city of Arequipa was Viceroy of New Spain, Francisco Toledo, the first rector of which was a wealthy widow, Donja Maria de Guzman, who donated her entire fortune to the monastery. On October 2, 1580, the first solemn mass was celebrated. According to established urban tradition, the second son or daughter in the family was to devote their lives to serving the Church. The Santa Catalina Monastery accepted girls aged 12-14 only from noble families. To give her daughter to a novice was considered very prestigious, each family paid a considerable dowry when the girl entered the monastery. In the status of a novice, girls could be no more than three years old, after which they either left the monastery or became nuns. The Santa Catalina Monastery was built in the Mudejar architectural style (a synthesis of Spanish colonial and local architectural styles). During the construction, porous stone from volcanic lava was used, the walls of the monastery were painted in orange and blue. The monastery covers an area of more than 20,000 square meters, its narrow streets, patios and kindergartens resemble the ancient quarters of Spanish cities. For more than 400 years, the Santa Catalina Monastery was completely closed to the laity, the townspeople did not have any information about what was happening inside the monastery, which generated a lot of rumors and fiction. The halo of mystery was removed from the monastery in 1970, after the restoration work was carried out after significant damage caused by the earthquakes of 1958 and 1960. About 20 nuns still live in the northern part of the monastery, the rest is open to visitors. Immediately after entering the monastery, visitors find themselves in a narrow courtyard, paved with square tiles, a large oleander tree grows in the center of the courtyard. Through a semicircular arch with the inscription Silencio, you can get to Silent Patio (Garden of Silence) with a large number of flowering plants. The garden served as a resting place for novices of the monastery. The rest of the monastery was intended only for nuns. Through a square courtyard with an arcade painted blue, you can get to the monastery streets, named after the six major Spanish cities of the XVI-XVII centuries - Malaga, Cordoba, Toledo, Seville, Granada and Burgos. Each of the streets had its own color, style and design. In the center of the monastery is a small Zocodober Square with a fountain made of white volcanic tuff. You can climb the steep stairs from the square to the upper platform, which offers panoramic views of the central part of the city, or go to Great Cloister Square with a garden of citrus trees. In the economic part of the monastery there is a garden, a vegetable garden and a laundry room with running water. During the visit, visitors can see the cells of the nuns, the ablution room, visit the refectory and the art gallery. The monastery offers guided tours in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Portuguese.