Cusco, the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, is considered the archaeological capital of South America. It was the capital of the Inca Empire from its beginning in the 14th century until the Spanish conquest in 1533. In the city of Cuzco, as in no other place, the mixture of Spanish and Inca cultures can be appreciated specially in the fusion of Inca ruins with Spanish architecture. Also, one of the most visible reflections of the racial mixing, mestizaje, was the Cuzco School of Painting, which combined the treatment of native artist with the most religious Spanish motifs, forms, and concepts.
The capital of the Inca Empire is known by its architecture of enormous cut-stone blocks fitted so perfectly that no mortar was needed. Cuzco was designed in the form of a puma with the legendary fortress of Sacsayhuaman as the head. The confluence of the Huatanay and the Tullumayo rivers was canalized and straightened to form the tail. The heart of the city, and the puma, was the Huaycaypata, the main square of Cuzco, located in the same place as the modern city square, but twice the size. Finally, four main paved roads left the square to the four corners of the empire. It was a city of such engineering excellence and beauty.
Cusco is the main entrance to Machu Picchu, “the Lost City of the Incas”, considered the 8th wonder of the world.


Main Tourist Attractions

PLAZA DE ARMAS
This was built on very site where the Incas used to carry out their own public ceremonies. Of all the colonial plazas in Peru, it is one of the finest and is surrounded by five churches and arcades built in Spanish architectural style.

CHURCH AND CONVENT OF LA MERCED
Considered one of Cusco’s most beautiful colonial churches, La Merced is built in the renaissance and baroque styles. There is also a small museum of religious art, which displays a gold monstrance standing 1.3 m high and decorated with diamonds and pearls, with one particularly eye-catching because it is shaped like a mermaid; it is the second largest monstrance in the world.

CONVENT OF SANTO DOMINGO - CORICANCHA.
Built on the foundations of the Incas’ most sacred place of worship: the Temple of the Sun or Coricancha. The Convent was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake in 1950, exposing some beautiful, expertly assembled from polished stone. Coricancha comprises a series of terraces, on the top of which is a group of temples dedicated to the main Inca deities, the most important one being that of the Sun.

DISTRICT OF SAN BLAS
The district consists of a maze of steep alleyways running past old Inca buildings and colonial mansions. This is one of the most picturesque quarters of Cusco and has a long history of tradition. It is also known as the artisans’ quarter and is where some of the best-known craftsmen, like Mendívil and Mérida, have their workshops. The Church of San Blas, which gives the district its name, was built in 1563, one of its most outstanding features being its wooden pulpit carved in the opulent baroque style.

SACSAYHUAMAN
This stout fortress that defended Cusco in time of war lie 3 km from the city. It is defended by three great walls built with enormous blocks of stone measuring an average of 5 m and is high amazingly well assembled.

KENKO
Situated 4.5 km from Cusco, Kenko was a place of worship dedicated to the adoration of the puma. There is a semicircular amphitheater.

PUCA PUCARA
Sited 7 km from Cusco, this is a military building consisting of terraces, stairs and other features.

TAMBOMACHAY
Eight km from Cusco. This was a place where the Incas worshipped water. The structure is composed of three finely carved stone terraces.

PIQUILLACTA
These are archeological remains of an extensive fortified city that have survived in good condition. The city, which was built by the Huari Tiahuanaco Civilization in the 6th or 7th century, predates the Incas and reveals a surprisingly advanced management of urban planning.

ANDAHUAYLILLAS
A small village near Cusco that is worth visiting for its beutifully decorated 17th century church, with a richly colored vault, baroque altarpieces and oil paintings of the Cusco School with gilded frames.

PISAC
Situated 31 km from Cusco at the entrance to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is well known for its Sunday market. After Machu Picchu, its ruins are the best preserved and composed of terraces separated by groups of buildings (fortresses, housing areas, esplanades, food storehouses, temples, etc.). The most important temple was built around the Intihuatana, a rock that acts as a sundial. The temple construction is of extraordinarily well-crafted stone.

OLLANTAYTAMBO
An old Inca village that lies 60 km from Cusco and is still inhabited today. The layout of the streets and plazas, the walls, and building foundations are all Inca. Nearby there is an impressive fortress that was never finished. The fortress is reached by stone steps and there is a temple with 10 niches. On another esplanade six enormous monoliths form the Temple of the Sun.

CHINCHEROS
Village surrounded by permanent snowfields situated 28 km from Cusco. On Sundays there is a very colorful market in the Plaza de Armas, where the native women still engage in the time-honored custom of barter. The Inca remains include a fortress and palace with trapezoidal openings in the walls. Chincheros has a lovely church decorated with paintings from the Cusco School.

MARAS
40 km away from Cusco this is a small typical colonial village where there are some 300 “stone doorways” built from andesite brought from two nearby quarries that have been in existence since Inca times. On the outskirts of the village are some salt mines that are still worked today. These make the terraces look as if they are covered with snow, which, combined with the area’s surroundings provide a beautiful landscape.

MORAY
Archeological complex 6 km from Maras which, according to recent interpretations, served as an experimental plant nursery for acclimatizing plants.

MACHU PICCHU
Located 120 km from Cusco and set against the dramatic backdrop of lush dark green vegetation of the jungle which drops abruptly away, the history and function of this impressive citadel thought to date from the last days of the Inca Empire remain an enigma. The ‘lost city’ divides into two sections: agricultural and urban. The agricultural zone is formed by the so-called farmers’ district and many terraces built into the steep mountainside. The urban section contains the civilian (residential zones, canals) and religious areas (temples, mausoleums, plazas, royal houses). While the workmanship of the civilian structures is uneven, the religious constructions were built with an eye for perfection. The structures are mainly rectangular and of a single story, with wide use of trapezoidal windows and niches.