Church of the Week: La Compañía

On the southeast corner of the Plaza de Armas in Arequipa, Peru, is the Jesuit church, La Compañía. This is one of the oldest churches in Arequipa. La Compañía was completed in 1698 and boasts an elaborate façade of sillar stone, mined from the nearby volcano, Misti. The cloisters Baroque-style stone arches contain carvings from the Jesuit Order and gargoyles spew the rainwater from the roof.

I snapped this shot from the top deck of a tour bus, at the outset of our four-hour tour of Arequipa in May, 2009.