Museum of Monastic Life

I crossed the road to visit the Museum of Monastic Life in St Catherine's Monastery.  I had no idea what to expect, but it turned out to be a real highlight of my time in Cusco.

In Inca times, the site of Saint Catherine's Monastery was occupied by a compound called the Aqllawasi, which means 'house of the chosen maidens' in Quechua.  It was inhabited by Aqllas, women from noble families chosen from all over the Inca Empire for their beauty and high lineage.  They entered the Aqllawasi when they were young and stayed within its walls for the rest of their lives.  They were strictly forbidden to have any contact with men and were obliged to remain virgins until their death.  The Aqllas were seen as being wedded to the Sun and other deities venerated in Cusco.  Their main occupations were the production of fine textiles for the Inca court and the preparation of ceremonial beverages.  These two activities were considered sacred.

The first Europeans who arrived in Peru called the Aqllas 'nuns'.

The Monastery of Saint Catherine of Siena was founded in 1601 in the city of Arequipa, but it was soon moved to Cusco after a series of natural disasters occurred in Arequipa at the beginning of the 17th century. 

The foundation of the monastery was the initiative of Dona Isabel Rivera de Padilla from Arequipa.  She possessed a great fortune.  In February 1605, the first 25 professed nuns arrived in Cusco.  After changing locations within the town, the monastery was established on the site of the ancient Aqllawasi.  It's highly likely that the former function was taken into account when the site was chosen. 

In 1650, the new monastery was destroyed by a devastating earthquake.  The reconstruction work began soon after with the foundation of the new church, which has been preserved to this day.  It's a simple building with a single nave extending along the northeastern facade of the monastery.  The church is home to the statue of Our Lady of the Remedies, the Patroness and Protectoress of the monastery since its foundation, and the object of great devotion by the people of Cusco.

Today, 13 professed contemplative nuns live in the Monastery of Saint Catherine of Cusco.  They are followers of the Dominican order.   Their main spiritual task is to support with their prayers the preaching activities of the friars and of the church in general.  The rules of the order prescribe for them a strictly cloistered life, although this restriction has been softened in recent decades.  Their cells are located in the two interior cloisters behind the church. 

Since the colonial period, the nuns of St Catherine's have become famous for their sophisticated embroideries of liturgical vestments and saints robes and for their delicious pastry.

Many of the paintings in the monastery are attributed to anonymous Cusco artists.  They are all 18th-century oils on canvas.  I don't know why they haven't been attributed to specific artists. 

In the first room you come to, there is a wooden statue of St Catherine of Siena dating from the 17th century. 

The next room is the mortuary room, where vigils were kept over deceased nuns.  Ujtil 1924, their bodies were displayed in the carved wooden bier before being moved to the cemetery located within the monastery.

Also on the ground floor is the workroom where the nuns did their embroidery, sewing, lacemaking, and other handicrafts still practised at the monastery today.Läs mer