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It seems probable that the name Arequipa is derived from the Quechua phrase " ari quepay ", meaning "OK, let's stop here", which, according to local legend, is exactly what the fourth Inca Emperor, Mayta Capac, said to his generals when they pestered him to settle here on the way back from one of his conqest trips from Cusco. Situated well above the coastal fog bank, at the foot of an ice-capped volcano - El Misti - and close to four other prominent volcanos (Chachani, Ampato, Corpuna and Pichupichu) the place has long been renowned for having one of the most pleasant settings and climates of all Peru's cities. The Ampato volcano is presently active, with wisps of smoke appearing on the horizon. The Incas were not alone in finding Arequipa to their liking. When Pizarro officially "founded" the city in 1540 he was moved enough to call it Villa Hermosa, or Beautiful Town, and Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, extolled the city's virtues, saying that it enjoyed an eternal springtime. Today, despite a disastrous earthquake in 1687 it's still endowed with some of the country's finest colonial churches and mansions , many of which are constructed from white volcanic sillar, cut from the surrounding mountains and often flecked with black ash. These buildings - particularly the Monastery of Santa Catalina , a complex enclosing a complete world within its thick walls - constitute the city's main appeal to travellers, but the startlingly varied countryside around Arequipa, from the gorges of both the Colca Canyon and the more distant Cotahuasi Canyon , to the unsettling isolation of the Valley of the Volcanos , is also worth exploring.
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