City of white volcanic stones

The buildings in and around the main square of Arequipa are made from the white volcanic stone Sillar. This stone is typically between the basalt and granite varieties of lava and is generally from the andesite lava eruptions. Arequipa is surrounded by 3 volcanoes and Chachani volcano is the main source of this stone. All the buildings are from the colonial era and use sillar extensively.Read more