San Camilo Market

Mercado San Camilo occupies a full block in central Arequipa under a nineteenth-century iron and glass roof - the structure is often attributed to Gustave Eiffel, a claim made about several Peruvian buildings and rarely documented, though it is genuinely of that era and type. Inside it is organised by trade: fruit stalls with the produce of the surrounding valleys, cheese counters selling the queso paria and other cheeses of the Arequipa and Puno highlands, herbs, meat, fish brought up from the coast, chocolate, and a long row of juice stands where women blend enormous glasses to order and offer the yapa, a top-up from the jug. There are also lunch counters serving Arequipeño dishes. It is a working market, close to the tourist centre but not aimed at it, and a good place to try the region's cheese and fruit.

What you actually see

• The iron roof - a nineteenth-century structure, often attributed to Eiffel without evidence.
• The cheese counters - queso paria and other highland cheeses.
• The juice row - blended-to-order glasses with the customary top-up.
• The lunch counters - Arequipeño cooking at market prices.

When to go

Year-round. Mornings for produce and juice; midday for the lunch counters. One to two hours. Quieter after mid-afternoon.

Honest expectations

A working market with wet floors and narrow aisles. The Eiffel attribution is repeated by guides and is not documented. Pickpocketing occurs in the crowd. Juice stands use tap water for ice - ask for it without.

Nearby

The Plaza de Armas and Santa Catalina are a few blocks north.