Santa Catalina convent (16C), the highlight of a visit to Arequipa, is nowadays only inhabited by twenty or so nuns who live an austere life. Yet back in the 18C, nearly 500 sisters enjoyed unparalleled freedom and a lavish lifestyle within these walls. The tangled maze of lanes and alleys spread over 2ha is dotted with cloisters (such as the Orange Trees) and churches (the elegant baroque and Mudejar Santa Catalina church), together with a profusion of delightful small squares in which fountains play.