Casa del Moral

Casa del Moral Review

One of the oldest architectural landmarks from the Arequipa Baroque period was named for the ancient mora tree (mulberry tree) growing in the center of the main patio. One of the town's most unusual buildings, it now houses the Banco Sur, but it's open to the public. Over the front door, carved into a white sillar portal, is the Spanish coat of arms as well as a baroque-mestizo design that combines puma heads with darting snakes from their mouths—motifs found on Nazca textiles and pottery. The interior of the house is like a small museum with alpaca rugs and soaring ceilings, polished period furniture, and a gallery of colonial period Cusco School paintings. Originally a lovely old colonial home, it was bought in the 1940s by the British consul and renovated to its former elegance in the early 1990s.