Peru Day 4: Cusco

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This morning we started with a tour of Cusco. Cusco is a bustling city with the Plaza de Armas serving as the central hub. Our first stop of the morning was Coricancha and Santo Domingo. After defeating the Inca, the Spaniards worked to destroy the images of the pagan gods. Coricancha was essentially the home of the gods in Cusco. The Spaniards repurposed Coricancha as a convent of Santo Domingo, repurposing much of the original stone for the colonial church. Much of the original foundation can still be found surrounding the church and inside the convent there remains some of the original rooms of Coricancha. Coricancha was also the source of much of the gold in Cusco. All of the walls and rooms had gold leaf along the tops of the walls. There was also a significant number of idols and additional gold detail inside of the cancha.

Santo Domingo was also my first introduction to the Cusco School of Art. Not an actual school, this was the style of colonial painting, specifically religious paintings. Shortly after the conquest, religious art was created for the churches. Indigenous and mestizo (mixed race) painters helped to create much of this art. The art blended the European baroque style with images from Peru, including local floral, fauna, and foods. Unfortunately, due to conservation efforts, I could not take any pictures of the oil paintings. They were fascinating to view, however. One of the greatest examples found in much of the art was how the Madonna was represented. Madonna was painted wearing clothing of the local women and incorporated in some of the same imagery of Pachamama (mother earth). It is through some of this borrowed religious imagery and parallel mythology that the Inca were more easily converted to Catholicism.

Our next stop was at the Catedral de Cusco. The cathedral is actually three different churches including the first christian church built in Cusco, Iglesia de Triunfo. Each of the three churches holds artifacts of significance to Cusco, including art and religious relics. The first cathedral was built on the site of Kiswarkancha which was an Incan temple on the main square of Cusco.

Some of the major art and artifacts found in the cathedral includes the Black Christ, two beautiful altars, Pintura Senor de los Temblores, and a famous painting of the Last Supper. The Black Christ was the wooden crucifix in place during the 1650 earthquake which devastated Cusco. The christians believed that it was a miracle that they were saved during this earthquake and relate this miracle to the crucifix. The crucifix was not originally black but was turned black over many years of exposure to smoking candles. The two altars are in different styles, one is baroque and in front of that is the neoclassical altar embossed in silver. Pintura Senor de los Temblores is the oldest surviving painting in Cusco and was painted shortly after the 1650 earthquake. It depicts Cusco shortly after the earthquake and you can see the Black Christ crucifix being worshipped in the plaza. One thing to note, the city of Cusco actually was saved primarily due to the Incan architecture which made up the majority of the foundations in Cusco. The Inca designed their architecture to withstand earthquakes. Finally, there is one of my favorite representations of The Last Supper which uses the Cusco school. In it, Christ and his disciples sit at a table which contains a meal representative of a Quechuan celebration, including potatoes, corn, and passion fruit all surrounding the main course, cuy (guinea pig). Unfortunately, due to the large number of art relics in the church, I was unable to take any pictures.

After visiting the church, a small group of us went out to the Alpaca factory where we got a demo of how to tell the difference between alpaca and synthetic fibers (alpaca is cool to the touch and smooth due to the lanolin). I managed to haggle and get a pretty good deal on a poncho with Incan-influenced details and a throw.

For lunch, we stopped by a recommended spot where I finally tried cuy. I’m all about trying local delicacies and this is the Andean local delicacy. The texture was much like dark chicken meat. The flavor I cannot describe. It was a bit like duck with a ham infusion and a little bit of rabbit. However, it would be best left described as unique. The skin was the best part, crispy and a little sweet. I will not be ordering it again.

After lunch, a few of us headed to Choco Museo (chocolate museum) where we learned about how chocolate is harvested and made by hand (not like the machines in Hershey). We were able to sample chocolate all the way from the bean to the finished product, including getting raw cocoa butter to massage into our skin. After the lesson in chocolate, we tried cocoa tea (delicious) and sampled different chocolate jams and liqueurs. I ended up buying some cocoa tea and a couple of bars of local artisanal chocolate bars.

After Choco Museo, we ventured into a local market and then headed over to the super mercado to buy water, soda, and snacks. I love going in local grocery stores. I also ended up buying some pisco to take home with me and found Flor de Cana rum which is not available in the states (best rum I’ve ever tasted, made in Nicaragua).



I opted to join the group at Tunupa for dinner, which was not the best choice. The food itself was not good though they did have a charming music and dance show. It was not really worth the price, however. Nearly everywhere I have gone has had live music and the food was decent. At Tunupa, they had a passion for cilantro which was peppered into every dish on the buffet. I ended up leaving early to head back to my room.

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Photos

Coricancha / Santo Domingo
A study in contrasting architecture and Cusco School colonial painting.

Original Structure of Coricancha Inside Santo Domingo
Dagmar is demonstrating the earthquake resistant architecture of Coricancha. The entrance angles in while the walls inside the structure angle out.

Gardens Outside of Coricancha
Incan terraces repurposed as beautiful garden

Santo Domingo
You can see the original Incan foundation of Coricancha contrasted with the colonial Spanish architecture behind (ignore the new white walls).

Catedral de Cusco
Religious art and artifacts abound.

Plaza de Armas
Water fountain with an Incan statue overlooking the plaza

Iglesia del Triunfo
Architectural detail over the first Christian church in Cusco

Roasted Cuy
Though I appreciate the presentation with a little conquistador helmet, faces on my food are just not appealing.

Starbucks
....it's everywhere