Peru Guide
Cusco
Convent of Santa Catalina
Address: Calla Santa Catalina Angosta
The Convent of Santa Catalina, built in 1610, occupies the ancient Acclahuasi, or Temple of the Sun Virgins. Just under thirty sisters still live and worship here.
Inside the convent the Museo de Arte y Monasterio de Santa Catalina (Mon– Sat 9am–5pm, Sun and holidays 9am–3.30pm; entry $2) features a splendid collection of paintings from the Cusqueña school, as well as an impressive Renaissance altarpiece and several gigantic seventeenth-century tapestries depicting the union of Indian and Spanish cultures. The blending of cultures is a theme that runs throughout much of the museum's fascinating artwork and is particularly evident in the Cusqueña paintings. Another common feature of much of the Cusqueña art here is the disproportionate, downward-looking, blood-covered head, body and limbs of the seventeenth-century depictions of Christ, which represent the suffering and low social position of the Andean Indians and originate from early colonial days when Indians were not permitted to look Spaniards in the eyes.
Another highlight of the museum, on the first floor at the top of the stairs, is a large fold-up box containing miniature three-dimensional religious and mythological images depicting everything from the Garden of Eden to an image of God with a red flowing cape and dark beard, and a white dove and angels playing drums, Andean flutes and pianos.