Attractions of Cusco

Cusco Tourist Ticket

Admission to many of the most popular places of interest in Cusco can only be made using a ‘Tourist Ticket’ (Boleto Turistico). This ticket allows you entrance to many sites in and around Cusco and costs USUSD 20 (US10 for students with an ISIC card). The ticket is valid for 10 days and can be bought at the OFEC office at Garcilaso on Plaza Regocijo (Mon-Fri 8am-6.30pm , Sat 8am-2pm) or at any of the sites included on the ticket below.

Places included on the tourist ticket are:

Santa Catalina Convent and Art Museum, Museo de Historia Regional (Casa Inca Garcilazo de la Vega), Museo Palacio Municipal de Arte Contemporaneo, the Museo Arqueologico Koricancha (but not Koricancha itself), Museo de Arte Popular, Centro Qosqo de Arte Nativo, Monumento Pachacutec

Inca ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Q’enko, Tambomachay and Puca Pucara.

Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero. These sites are normally visited as part of the Sacred Valley day tour.

Urcos: Pikillacta (the only major pre-Inca ruin in the Cusco area) and Tipon (mainly Inca terracing).

Entrance tickets to the Cathedral (USUSD 3), Koricancha / Qoricancha /Temple of the Sun (USUSD 1.80), San Blas church, the Inka Museum (USUSD 3), Museo de Arte Precolombino (USUSD 4.60), Museo de Arte Religioso del Arzobispado (USUSD 3) and La Merced (USUSD 0.90) are sold separately.

The Plaza de Armas (Main Square)

The Plaza de Armas (main square) was the centre of Inca Cusco and, still today, remains at the heart of modern Cusco. During Inca times the Plaza was known as Huacaypata (the Place of Tears or the Weeping Square) and was a place of ceremonies and military parades. It has been said that when the Inca’s conquered new lands they would bring back some of the soil to be mixed with the soil of Huacaypata, as a symbolic gesture to incorporate the newly gained territories into the Inca empire.

The Plaza was once flanked with Inca palaces. The remains of the ancient walls of Inca Pachacutec’s palace can still be seen on the north-west side of the square (inside the Roma Restaurant close to the corner of the Plaza and Calle Plateros.

The northern and western sides of the Plaza are now lined by arcades with shops and travel agencies. There are many restaurants, bars and coffee shops with beautifully carved wooden balconies overlooking the Plaza - a great place to relax and enjoy the view.

The Plaza’s north-eastern edge is dominated by the Cathedral which is flanked on the right-hand side by the El Triunfo church.

On the south-east side is the smaller but more ornate church of La Compania de Jesus with its impressive pair of belfries.

Cathedral
The Cathedral dominates the north-east side of the Plaza de Armas and sits squarely on the foundations of the Inca Viracocha’s palace. The Cathedral was begun in 1550 and completed nearly 100 years later, constructed in the shape of a Latin cross.

The three-aisled nave is supported by only fourteen massive pillars. It contains nearly 400 colonial paintings including the Last Supper by Marcos Zapata showing Christ and the Apostles about to dine on guinea-pig, washed down with a glass of chicha! In the sacristy there’s a painting of the crucifixion attributed to Van Dyke. Ten smaller chapels surround the nave, with the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, and the Chapel of El Senor de los Temblores (The Lord of Earthquakes) are worthy of special attention.

The Cathedral’s real magic lies in the mingling of history and legend. It is said that when the Cathedral was built an Inca prince was walled up in one of the towers and that when the tower falls the Inca will emerge to claim his birthright and free his people. After the earthquake of 1950 thousands of believers waited hopefully for the tower to collapse, but despite severe damage, they did not and were later repaired.

El Triunfo

El Triunfo is on the right hand side of the Cathedral and was the first Christian church in Cusco. It was built on the site of Suntur Huasi (the Roundhouse), the main Inca armoury where the Spanish were trapped during Manco Inca’s siege in 1536. When the Incas burned the city the thatched roof of Suntur Huasi caught fire, but then mysteriously went out. The Spanish later broke out and recaptured Sacsayhuaman, ending the siege. The church was built to commemorate this victory and the miracle.

La Compania de Jesus

La Compania de Jesus church is located on the south-east side of the Plaza de Armas and rivals the Cathedral in grandeur and prominence. The original structure was built in the 1570’s by the Jesuits on the site of Inca Huayna Capac’s palace, known as Amaru Cancha or Palace of the Serpents and was said to be the most beautiful of all the Inca palaces). Huayna Capac was the last Inca to rule over an undivided, unconquered empire.

The first church was destroyed in the earthquake of 1650. The present day building was finally completed 18 years later in 1668. The most impressive feature of La Compania is the incredible baroque facade with two majestic bell towers. The interior is cool and a little gloomy apart from a stunning gilded altar-piece which is often lit up at night. The church also posses several important works of art from the Cusquena School.

On the right hand side of the church is the Lourdes Chapel which is now used as an exhibition centre to display local paintings and handicrafts.

Santo Domingo Church and Koricancha / Qoricancha (Inca Temple of the Sun).
Santo Domingo was built in the 17th century on the walls of the Koricancha Temple of the Sun. The uninspiring Baroque decoration of Santo Domingo makes a poor contrast to the superbly crafted Inca masonry - in fact much of the cloister has been gutted to reveal four of the original chambers of the great Inca Temple.

The finest Inca stonework in existence today is the curved wall beneath the west end of the Church. In Inca times the walls of the Koricancha were lined with 700 solid-gold sheets weighing two kilos a piece. There were life-size gold and silver replicas of corn, golden llamas, figurines and jars. All that remains today is the stonework; the conquistadors took the rest - unfortunately all the exquisite treasures ended up being melted down; nothing survived. However the fist conquistadors to arrive did not remove the holiest religious symbol of the empire, the golden sun disc, though they reported its existence.

This solid gold disc, far larger than a man, mysteriously vanished before the main party of Spaniards arrived. It has never been found to the present day. The disc was positioned to catch the morning sun and throw its rays into the gold-lined temple, filling it with radiant light and bathing the mummies of the dead Inca rulers in sunshine which were seated in niches along the walls.

The entire temple complex was also an intricate celestial observatory. Every summer solstice, the sun’s rays shine directly into a niche - the tabernacle - in which only the Inca was permitted to sit. Along with the main temple dedicated to the Sun, there were others for the adoration of lesser deities - the Moon, Venus, Thunder and Lightning, and the Rainbow.