Origin of Arequipa City name: Arequipa is located in the south of the country, in the mountains of the Andes desert, also known as: “The white city”, Due to its constructions made in sillar, it is the second most important city in Peru and the third in tourist movement to combine the beauty of its green landscape with the imposing presence of its volcanoes and snow-capped mountains.
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Theories about the origin of the word ‘Arequipa’
On the origin of the name of Arequipa city, several responses have been given to it, and even a lot of controversy, about whether it is a Quechua or Aymara word. Then the following theories …
The first theory about the origin of the name “Arequipa”
This theory comes from the famous writer,the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega that in his Royal Comments he observes that “according to Father Blas Valera” the origin of the old name comes from the Aymara who founded this place where they built a settlement and that in Aymara language Arequipa means “Sound Trumpet”, which comes from the term ‘qquepan’, which is a sea snail used by the natives as a trumpet.
The second theory about the origin of the name “Arequipa”
In essays by the essayist Aurelio Miró Quesada, which he said was due to the fact that Mayta Cápac he received a request from his army when they arrived at Chili Valley, who asked permission to stay in the region to populate that place, since they were admired by the beauty of the landscape, and in response the Inca answered “Ari Qhipay”, in Quechua, which means in Spanish: “Yes, stay.”
Third theory about the origin of the name “Arequipa”
According to the chroniclers Middendorf and Kimmichi, the word Arequipa is not Quechua but Aymara, whose meanings come from the terms Ari which means “Summit”, and Queppa which means “behind”; which means “city located behind the summit”.
Arequipa Appeals
Those nicknames are a way to exalt their beauty or their importance or by some special feature.
Arequipa the white city: It is the most relevant appellation that gave Arequipa attributed to the colour of the ashlar by the Arequipa themselves.
Arequipa, eternal spring
The complimentary phrase was said by Miguel de Cervantes in his Calliope Song. But it was the mistake by the group that understood that decontextualized phrase as a feature of Arequipa, when in fact Cervantes referred to the verses of the poet Diego Martínez de Ribera.
The Rome of America In 1985 Pope John Paul II visited the city of Arequipa and renamed it The Rome of America, for its fervent Catholicism and religious spirit.
Take a free tour of the main streets and squares of Arequipa for free.
