Arco de Santa Catalina

The yellow archway spanning Fifth Street North frames the silhouette of the Agua Volcano in the distance. It served as a secluded bridge for the cloistered nuns of the Santa Catalina convent, allowing them to cross between their prayer chambers and the school without stepping into the public street. When the massive seventeen seventy-three earthquake shattered the city, the arch remained standing while the nearby convent collapsed into ruins. Its clock tower, added later in the nineteenth century, keeps time for the city.