Santa Catalina convent (16C), the highlight of a visit to Arequipa, is currently only inhabited by twenty or so nuns. Yet back in the 18C, nearly 500 sisters enjoyed unparalleled freedom within these walls. The tangled maze of lanes and alleys spread over 2ha is dotted with cloisters, churches and flower-decked patios, together with a profusion of delightful small squares where fountains play against a backdrop of little houses painted in bright colours ranging from ochre yellow and apricot orange to indigo blue and brick red.