Cusco travel guide: overview
The ancient capital of the Inca empire is the city most tourists want to visit, a jewel of Inca and colonial architecture standing 3,330 meters (10,900ft) above sea level.
Cusco, where past and present collide
Indigenous vendors speak Spanish to tourists and Quechua to each other. Catholic nuns live in buildings once inhabited by Inca “chosen women.” The Marcos Zapata painting of the Last Supper in the cathedral shows Christ and his Apostles dining on Andean cheese, hot peppers, and roast guinea pig. Cusco is a city that makes for an intriguing mix.
The center of the world
For the Incas, Qosqo meant “navel of the world,” and they believed their splendid city was the source of life. The Inca empire came into being during the reign of Inca Pachacutec Yupanqui, who began a great expansion, imposing Quechua as the common language and turning Cusco in the second half of the 15th century from a city of clay and straw into a glittering capital, a thriving metropolis able to rival many European cities. At its peak, Cusco, built in the shape of a puma, was a city with sophisticated water systems, paved streets, and no poverty.
The Machu Picchu connection
After centuries of provincial obscurity, Hiram Bingham’s discovery of Machu Picchu in 1911 and the subsequent construction of a road up to that mountaintop citadel in 1948 transformed Cusco into the jumping-off point for visits to one of South America’s best-known tourist attractions.
The architecture of Cusco
The most startling and curious characteristic of Cusco at first glance is its architecture. Huge walls of intricately laid stone pay testimony to the civilization that 500 years ago controlled much of this continent. All in all, the Inca remains and Spanish reconstruction make the city an unparalleled Andean jewel.
Places to visit in Cusco
Plaza de Armas
In Inca times, Cusco’s Plaza de Armas was the exact center of the empire known as Tahuantinsuyo – or The Four Quarters of the Earth – and these days, this is still one of the most superb colonial squares in Latin America. The most spectacular view of the plaza comes after nightfall, when dramatic lighting transforms the square. On the plaza, Cusco’s magnificent Catedral mixes Spanish Baroque architecture with Inca stonework and has an altar of solid silver; while its María Angola bell, made of a tonne of gold, silver, and bronze, is reportedly the continent’s largest. The cathedral also contains magnificent examples of Escuela Cusqueña (School of Cusco) paintings.
Compañía de Jesús
In a city with so many churches, it's an honor to be dubbed the “most beautiful.” That distinction belongs to La Compañía de Jesús, sitting on the southeast corner of the Plaza de Armas. The Jesuit church, with its Baroque facade, intricate interior, finely carved balconies, and altars covered in gold leaf, was started in 1571 and took nearly 100 years to complete, in part because of damage in the 1650 earthquake. During its construction, this splendid building drew so much attention that the bishop of Cusco complained it outshone the cathedral.
Calle Hatunrumiyoc
Calle Hatunrumiyoc literally literally translates as “the Street of the Big Stones”. Among other buildings, here you’ll find the Museo de Arte Religioso del Arzobispado, a Moorish building with complicated carvings on its doors and balconies which used to be the Archbishop’s Palace (and now houses an impressive collection of religious paintings of the Cusco School, including some by Diego Quispe Tito); while outside is the famous Twelve-Angled Stone. A “fitting” tribute to the skill of Inca masons, this masonry masterpiece was left by Inca architects seemingly anxious to prove that no piece of granite was too irregular to be fitted without mortar.
San Blas and the artisans’ quarter
Head straight up Calle Hatunrumiyoc, and on your right you will find the Iglesia de San Blas. Apart from its ornate altar, San Blas is a simple church by Latin American standards, and has a beautifully carved pulpit, said to be one of the world’s finest pieces of woodwork. The streets around San Blas, notably the Cuesta San Blas, form Cusco’s artists’ quarter, with galleries, studios, and small shops, hostales and restaurants, and the workshops of the prolific Mendival family.
Iglesia Santo Domingo/Qoricancha
Now a church, the Iglesia Santo Domingo was once El Templo del Qoricancha – the Temple of the Sun, the most important place of worship in the Inca empire. Walls there were covered in 700 sheets of gold studded with emeralds and turquoise, and the mummified bodies of deceased Inca leaders, dressed in fine clothing and adornments, were kept on thrones of gold. In the same room, a huge gold disk representing the sun covered one full wall while a sister disk of silver, to reflect the moonlight, was positioned on another. Although the temple’s wealth can only be imagined, its Inca architecture can still be appreciated. Visible from inside is the perfectly fitted curved stone wall that has survived at least two major earthquakes.
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