HISTORY

In Inca times the site of this monastery was occupied by a compound called the Aqllawasi, which in Quechua means “house of chosen maidens”. It was inhabited by Aqllas, women of noble families chosen from all over the empire for their beauty and high lineage. They entered the Aqllawasi while young and stayed within its walls for the rest of their lives. They were strictly forbidden to have any contact with men and were obliged to remain virgins until their death. The Aqllas were seen as being wedded to the sun and the other deities venerated in Cusco. Their main occupations were the production of fine textiles for the court of the Inca and the preparation of ceremonial beverages, and these two activities were considered sacred. The first Europeans who arrived in Peru called the Aqllas “nuns”.

The Aqllawasi compound was located on a vast area which today corresponds to the city block bordered by the Main Square and the streets Arequipa, Loreto and Maruri. It was designed in the form of a cloister, with tall exterior walls. In its interior, according to the chronicles of the XVI century, it contained passageways or streets which were lined with the rooms and workshops of the aqllas and their servants, or mamaconas. Few fragments of the ancient buildings have survived, and those that remain belonged to the exterior wall. The largest and the best preserved fragment is the long wall on the southwest side, facing Loreto Street. Another well-preserved section is the southeast corner, on Arequipa Street.

The Monastery of Saint Catherine of Siena was founded in 1601 in the city of Arequipa, but it was soon moved to Cusco after the series of destructive natural disasters which occurred in Arequipa at the beginning of the XVII century. The foundation of the monastery was the initiative of the widow Doña Lucía Rivera de Padilla from Arequipa, who possessed a great fortune. In February 1605 the first 25 professed nuns arrived in Cusco. After changing location several times within the town, the monastery was established on the site of the ancient Aqllawasi. It is likely that its former function was taken into account when the site was chosen.

In 1650 the new monastery, as well as many other recent buildings in Cusco, was destroyed by a devastating earthquake. The reconstruction work began the next year, with the foundation of the new church, which has been preserved to this day. It is a simple building with a single nave extending along the northeastern façade of the monastery. The church is home to the statue of Our Lady of the Remedies, the patroness and protectress of the monastery since its foundation, and the object of great devotion by the people of Cusco.

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