Ruta del Sillar

Arequipa is called the white city because it is built of sillar, a pale ignimbrite laid down by eruptions of Chachani and the surrounding volcanoes, and the Ruta del Sillar takes visitors to the quarries where it comes from. At Añashuayco, cutters work faces of soft white rock with hand tools, scoring and levering out blocks in the same way it has been done for centuries - a hard, dusty job done by relatively few people, with mechanisation only partial. The quarry walls carry carved reliefs made by the workers. Nearby, the Quebrada de Culebrillas is a narrow winding canyon in the same stone, sculpted by water into smooth curves, walkable through its length. The route explains the city: every church, mansion and arch in Arequipa came out of these ravines. Guides from the quarrying communities run the visits.

The main sights

• The cutting - workers levering sillar blocks from soft rock faces by hand.
• The carved walls - reliefs cut into the quarry faces by the workers.
• Culebrillas - a narrow water-sculpted canyon in the same white stone.
• The connection - the source of the material the whole city is built from.

When to go

Year-round; go in the morning, as the quarries are hot and glaring by midday. Two to three hours including both sites.

Before you go

Dusty, hot and unshaded, with strong reflected glare off white rock. This is a working quarry - keep clear of cutting faces and follow the guide. Culebrillas is narrow and can flood in rain. Facilities are minimal.

Nearby

Arequipa is south-east; Yura and the Chachani slopes are north.