Tambo el Matadero

You’ve just stepped into the everyday life of Arequipa’s White City, in the heart of the Solar district. If you turn right and pass through the wooden door leading into another narrow hidden street, you’ll discover a tambo. Intriguing, isn’t it?

In Inca times, the word tambo referred to a roadside rest stop, but here in Arequipa it came to mean something different: a large courtyard house shared by around ten families living together as a community. The one you can see here is the Tambo del Matadero. Built in the early 17th century, it takes its name from its historic location near the city’s former municipal slaughterhouse.

The nearby river was once the main route for the trade in hides and livestock. What makes this place especially surprising is that it once belonged to the Marquis of Selva Alegre, one of the wealthiest figures of the colonial era, before later becoming a home for ordinary residents. Just remember that people still live here today, so please be discreet and respectful as you cross the courtyard.