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"When the moon separated from the Earth, it forgot to take Arequipa."

I could almost believe this local saying as I walked into Arequipa's Plaza de Armas near midnight on a warm May evening. The air smelled of flowering trees, and moonlight played across the pale cathedral and the two-story arcades that encircle the square. Every inch was constructed of white sillar stone hewed from the snow-capped volcanic mountains that rose behind the cathedral.

The scene shimmered with a dreamlike quality, yet the plaza's central park was bustling with locals, long since accustomed to their magnificent surroundings, strolling and chatting.

With some of the best Spanish Colonial architecture in South America, a vibrant food culture and a picturesque locale in a fertile valley between the mountains and desert of southern Peru, Arequipa may be one of the more amazing cities you've never heard of.

At least my partner, Matthew, and I hadn't before an airline agent told us that the only flight that would get us back to Lima in time for our flight home was from Arequipa. This would mean a long and bumpy bus ride for us from Lake Titicaca (about six hours north of Arequipa), but from our first glimpse of Peru's second-largest city, we knew we had stumbled onto a find.

Called la cuidad blanca (the white city) for the stone used to build it, Arequipa reminded me of southern Spain in its lushness and architecture. Yet this ancient city has roots that date to the Incan Empire (1200-1535). One story claims that the Inca leader Mayta Capac was so moved by the region's beauty that he ordered his entourage to "Ari, quipay," or "Yes, stay" in Quechua. Another story suggests the name means "the place behind the pointed mountain."

Whatever its source, Spanish conquistadors kept the name and re-founded the city in 1540. Arequipa soon became rich as a key stop on the trade route from the silver mines of Bolivia to the coast and from a prosperous cattle and farming industry, which is still active today. Modern-day Arequipa boasts a mix of impressive architecture and ancestry that reflects its dual colonial Spanish and native Amerindian heritage.

There is a great pride in being an Arequipeño that helps give this city — today the commercial capital of southern Peru and the hometown of several prominent business people, politicians and intellectuals (such as playwright and novelist Mario Vargas Llosa — a look and feel that is distinctive from the rest of Peru.

Architectural treasures

Our hotel, Casa de Melgar, reflected Arequipa's history. This friendly hotel in what was an 18th century bishop's residence felt like a Colonial hacienda and was filled with antiques and indigenous folk art. Its courtyard had ocher-colored walls dotted with antique pottery and wrought-iron work. Our room — a steal at $24 — had a domed ceiling and sky-blue sillar walls decorated with hand-woven cloth.

The best way to explore the city is on foot, so we wandered along cobblestone streets admiring the multitude of 18th century Colonial mansions dotting the city center.

Even a visit to the bank in Arequipa can be an architectural treat. Looking for a bank machine, we wandered into Casa Ricketts, a 1738 seminary that is now the Banco Continental (on Calle San Francisco). We withdrew our sols in a sculpted stone courtyard beneath capitals of Baroque angels and saints.

Casa de Moral — a bank at Moral and Bolívar streets — is another extraordinary structure. Built by a Spanish knight, the intricate heraldic carvings above its portal depict snakes slithering from a puma's mouth, a design found in the arts of the Nazca Amerindians.

Even more striking is the 17th century Jesuit church of La Compañia, on the southeastern edge of the plaza. The church has somehow survived the earthquakes that frequently strike the region (the latest in 2001, magnitude 8.1, left five dead in Arequipa) and amazes visitors with its profuse ornamentation. Zigzags, spirals, flowers, faces and the date of the work's completion (1698) are engraved into the façade.

The interior is pure gilded Peruvian Baroque, a combination of European art forms and South American sensibilities. Angels with Amerindian faces smile down at visitors from altarpieces, and a sword-wielding St. James on horseback carved above the south portal looks more conquistador than saint.

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