City Tour in Cusco

Cusco – City Tour in Cusco

Our tour starts at 1.30pm, we pick you up from your hotel to begin the tour of the imperial city, a living city that combines Inca temples and palaces, a perfect combination of Andean and Spanish culture. The first will be the Temple of the Sun or Qoricancha on which the Santo Domingo Convent (Order of the Dominicans) has been built. Then we leave the city to appreciate the great Inca wonder of Sacsaywaman, considered the greatest architectural work whose Inca walls have no equivalent in the world. Then we move a little further away from the city to visit the sacred places of Qenqo, Pukapukara and Tambomachay. At the end of the tour we will take you back to your hotel.4

Qoricancha and the Santo Domingo Convent

It was one of the most venerated and respected temples in the city. The “golden enclosure”, as it was known, was a sacred place where homage was paid to the highest Inca god: the INTI, so they could only enter on an empty stomach, barefoot and with a load on their back as a sign of humility, as indicated by the high priest Wilaq Umo. Inside the temple, not only the Sun was worshipped, but also other minor deities such as the Moon and Venus. According to the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, the middle room in the northwest corner of the temple was dedicated to the worship of the Moon, and the next one was for Venus, the Pleiades and other constellations. On the other side of the courtyard, in two smaller rooms, worship was paid to the Thunder (Illapa) and the Rainbow (Cuichu). On its façade there was an altar that held the gold plate that reflected the sun at dawn. Today it is partially destroyed by colonial works that were rebuilt later. The Qoricancha not only housed the main gods of the Inca pantheon, but also had a magical-religious projection, whose purpose was to sacralize the geography of Tahuantinsuyu. For this reason, from the center of the main court, inticancha, the ceques departed, which are the virtual lines that communicated the temple with the spirits that lived in the mountains (apus), before whom, even the powerful Incas, bowed their heads. The base of the Inca composition for the construction of the temple was the court, a patio around which several rectangular enclosures were arranged. The first, which was next to Intipampa, contained the main buildings for the cult of the Sun and other gods of the Inca pantheon; while in the second, located in front of that square, Punchao was venerated (a representation of the Sun that consisted of a statue of pure gold the height of a ten-year-old child) that remained there during the day, and at night was taken to the square for veneration. The idol «slept» accompanied by numerous ñustas in a neighbouring building, outside the court, and was then returned to its original place in the morning.

Sacsaywaman

Sacsaywaman is one of the Inca constructions that most amazes tourists who, according to new hypotheses, point out that it would have been a very important ceremonial centre and not a fortress.
In any case, let’s look at the traditional understanding of Sacsayhuamán. It would be a spectacular fortress built with enormous carved rocks, joined with absolute precision. Together with Machu Picchu and Choquequirao, it is, without a doubt, one of the greatest architectural works of the Tahuantinsuyu. But, in addition, it represents the undoubted constancy of the administrative capacity of the empire and its powerful logistical apparatus. Its Quechua name means «satisfied falcon». Therefore, it was the falcon that guarded the capital of the empire, since from the hill on which it was erected it dominates the entire city. If, as is known, Cusco was designed in the shape of a recumbent puma, Sacsayhuamán would be its head, while Qoricancha would correspond to the feline’s genitals. Its shape and location would have rather obeyed other principles, such as harmony between architecture and landscape. Current research suggests that it would have been a temple dedicated to the cult of the Sun, for which not only the construction was important, but also the environment that surrounded it.

Q´enqo

This Quechua name means “labyrinth”. During the Inca Empire, this place was a temple for public ceremonies. It is an enormous semicircular area 55 meters long with 19 incomplete niches distributed along the wall. Some publications claim that the niches were arranged around the amphitheater as seats for the entities that were worshipped, but according to recent research it is very likely that they were actually the bases of a large wall. In front of the free area there is a large stone block 6 meters high that rests on a solid rectangular pedestal. It is possible that it was a gigantic sculpture that must have had zoomorphic models. The lack of precision is due to the traces of destruction caused by the extirpators of idolatries (people in charge of eliminating the icons of the local cult) during the Colony. It also has a rocky outcrop decorated with a passage leading to an underground room, a complex of platforms, rooms and a system of drainage channels intended to evacuate water from the place. The underground chamber, The rock carving carried out here is quite a feat. Floors, ceilings, walls, tables and niches were carefully carved into the living rock. Without a doubt, it was a place of worship for secret and hidden rites. The builders of the place completed its composition with service rooms on the perimeter. It also has platforms and channels for the evacuation of rainwater.

Pukapukara

Puka pukara means «red fortress», because the limestone stones with which it is built have acquired the reddish color of the terrain, which is very rich in iron.
It is said that it had the function of protecting Tambomach’ay, an important palace in the Inka period. But at the same time, due to its architectural layout and the existence of fountains, aqueducts and multiple enclosures, and its proximity to the old road, which can be seen gaining the pass in the northern mountain and which led to Huch’uy Qosqo and Calca in the Sacred Valley, it was a “tambo”, that is, a collective shelter that offered lodging and food to travelers, as well as to the entourage that had to accompany the Inca in his retreat in Tambomach’ay.
In Puka pukara there are enclosures, interior plazas, baths, aqueducts, watchtowers and an easily recognizable Inca road. The buildings are made of medium and small stones, the external surface of the polyhedrons is slightly rough unlike other archaeological complexes, in short, the urban layout is extremely adequate and functional.

Tambomachay

The archaeological site of Tambomachay is located 8 km (15 min.) northeast of Cusco, by paved road, and 1 km from Puca-pucará. It is located on the slopes of a hill near the main road to Antisuyo, on the Tambomachay River. It is also known as the Tambo de la Caverna and occupies an area of ​​437 square meters, located at an altitude of 3,700 meters. Apparently it was the favorite spa of the Inca, but at the same time, it was one of the pillars of the Cusco Valley’s defensive system. The name comes from two Quechua words: Tampu, which means collective accommodation and Mach’ay, which means resting place. However, according to other references, the word «machay» means «caverns», which would describe the peculiar environment of the place where these natural rock formations can be seen, which according to indigenous tradition, were objects of veneration or magical practices. Formed by a set of finely carved stone structures, aqueducts and waterfalls from nearby springs and hot springs (which is why it is thought to have been related to the cult of water), it is one of the pillars of the Andean worldview. It is considered one of the shrines of the first ceque of Antisuyo.

Cult of Water.-Water itself was venerated as the source of life. Tambomachay has an extraordinary hydraulic system. Two aqueducts artistically carved into the rock transport and maintain a constant flow of clean, clear water throughout the year, which comes from a pool at a higher level. This network of underground channels pours its water into a small stone pool at the lowest level. This pool must have been a liturgical fountain, where the Inca worshipped water with the greats of the Empire. The “Bath of the Ñusta” is very similar to the one in Ollantaytambo, made of perfectly assembled stones, with a carved border and drainage channels. Although today it is an open-air structure, the foundations seem to indicate that it was originally a closed enclosure. It is entered through four trapezoidal portico platforms with double jambs.