Cusco Peru -- January 2012

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Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire and the oldest continously inhabited city in the Americas. It was founded in the 1200's and amazed the Spanish with its spendor when they arrived in 1535. We took the plane from Lima to Cusco and the sudden 11,000+ change in altitude had us dragging on the day of our arrival but with each passing day our energy level increased as we got use to the thinner air. The city was built upon Inca foundations in the Spanish baroque style with terra-cotta roofs and cobblestone streets. The city has magnificant repositories of colonial art such as the main catheredral (begun in 1559) and La Merced Church ( all statues we saw of the Virgin Mary pose her in the shape of a mountain). the Coricancha ruins which were formerly covered with gold. now only the stonework remainsbut one can image what a sight it must have been. The interor of Museo de Arqeologia is filled with metal and gold work plus jewellery, pottery, textiles and mummies. Just outside of Cusco are Sacsayhumaman (the Inca's laid out the city in the form of a puma with the head resting on Sacsayhuaman), Qenko, Puka Pukara, called the 'red fort' due to its redish walls. The ruins consist of high walls and what would have been watch towers. The huge size of the stones and how they were fitted together would be difficult to do today with all of our machines and equipement yet the Inca's did this hundreds of years ago and they still had not invented the wheel. Tambomachay was the site for ritual bathing and an important center of worship of water.

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Photos

Cusco
A monastry was built upon the ruins of an Inca Palace. The Inca's built doors and windows slightly with a wider base than top. When eathquakes have occurred it is the Spanish construction that collapes not that of the Inca's

Main Cathedral
Unfortunately you were not permitted to take pictures inside the cathedral. The inside is really 3 large chuchs. One painting that will catch your eye shows Cusco a couple of hundred years ago when an earthquake struck.

Cusco
This monastry was built upon the ruins of an Inca palace

Inca window
In the monastry there are a series of Inca windows all perfectly lined up

Inca Fort
How the Inca's were able to fit these boulders together to form such high walls is amazing

Puka Pukara walls
This picture will give some idea of how high the walls were

Comments

[Carroll Graham]

Wow - talk about bringing back fond memories. I'm in Vancouver visiting with friends I made on my trip to Peru. Started out in Edmonton and drove through our beautiful Rockies to get here. Enjoying your blog and your travels. Carroll

[Morgan Mare]

Machu Picchu
Hi Carol, great to hear from you. We are in Vancouver a couple of times a year to visit with our daughters and granddaughter. My next posting will be the Sacred Valley followed by Machu Picchu