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CITIES
CUSCO
- Cusco
- Machu Picchu: One of The Wonders
of The World
- The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
- The Koricancha Temple
- The Fortress of Sacsayhuaman
- The Shrines of Qenqo and Tambomachay
-Gastronomy
Inca walls, colorful costumes, churches
built on top of palaces, citadels lost in the Andean
heights, legendary roads-all the beauty of a glorious
past that enfolds the visitors who arrives in Cuzco,
the sacred city of the Incas and archaeological capital
of the Americas. Ever since US archaeologist Hiram Bingham
discovered the citadel of Machu Picchu for the world,
Cusco has fired the imagination of millions of travelers
from all over the world who venture down the Inca Trail
every year, headed for the summit of one of the world’s
most extraordinary monuments.
The city of Cuzco, however, features
many other attractions which by themselves would be
enough to attract visitors. The main square, which the
Incas called Huacaypata, the artisans quarter of San
Blas, the Convent of Santo Domingo, built on top of
the Temple of the Sun or Korikancha and the palaces
of the Inca and his court are part of a long list of
archaeological wonders.
 There
are also several circuits one the outskirts of town,
which usually include the imposing ruins of Sacsayhuaman
or Tambomachay. Visitors can also take part in all kinds
of adventure sports and participate in the most spectacular
religious festivals on the continent. Celebrations include
Qoyllur Rit’i held at 4,000 meters (13120 feet),
the Corpus Christi procession, and the famous Inti Raymi
spectacle.
Cuzco is also a magical city of dizzying
excitement with its bustling nightlife. Its cultural
scene makes the sacred city of the Incas the most spectacular
destination in the Americas with its rich archaeological
legacy found on practically every street corner.
MACHU
PICCHU: ONE OF THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD
The ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is the star
attraction of Cuzco. The citadel is deemed one of the
world’s finest examples of landscape architecture
and was discovered in 1911 by US explorer Hiram Bingham.
Machu Picchu (“old mountain” in Quechua,
the ancient language of the Incas) nestles on top of
a mountain saddle high above the Urubamba River in the
middle of the cloud forest. It was both a center of
worship and astronomic observatory as well as the private
retreat of the family of Inca ruler Pachacutec. It is
split into two major areas: the agriculture zone, made
up of terracing and food storehouses; and the urban
zone, featuring the sacred sector, with temples, squares
and royal tombs which have been carved to an extraordinary
degree of perfection. The stone staircases and canals
are found throughout this unique archaeological site.
Huayna Picchu (Young Mountain in
Quechua) looms over the citadel and its steep stone
pave trail can be climbed by any visitor.
THE INCA
TRAIL TO MACHU PICCHU
Located in the department of Cuzco,
the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is Peru`s most popular
trekking route and possibly one of the most spectacular
walks in the Americas.It forms part of the more than
23,000 Km (14,260 miles) of roads built by the Incas
across South America. Each year, some 25,000 hikers
from all over the world walk the 43 km (27 miles) stone-paved
trail, built by the Incas to get to the impregnable
citadel of Machu Picchu, deep in the Cuzco cloud forest.
The trail sets out from Qorihuayrachina, at Kilometer
88 the Cuzco-Quillabamba railway, and takes three to
four days of tough hiking. The route runs through an
impressive range of altitudes, where climates and eco-systems
range from the high Andean plain down to the cloud forests.
The trail climbs up through two highland passes (the
higher of the two, Warmiwañuska, lies at 4,200
masl {13776 feet}) before reaching Machu Picchu through
the Inti Punku or Gateway of the Sun. One of the attractions
of the trail is the past carved granite Inca settlements
(Wiñay Wayna, Phuyupatamarca), surrounded by
breath-taking natural scenery. The forests abound in
hundreds of species of orchids, brightly-colored birds
and dream-like landscapes which are the ideal complement
to this amazing hikers’ route.
THE KORICANCHA
TEMPLE
Koricancha is a classic example
of the fusion of Inca and Western cultures. It was one
of the most important temples in the Tahuantinsuyu.
Its finely polished stone walls were used as the foundations
of the Convent of Santo Domingo.
The temple, whose walls were said
to have been sheathed in gold and silver, was dedicated
to sun worship, as well as containing images of the
gods of thunder and Wiracocha, deities brought from
various regions and the mummified bodies of Inca rulers.
Worship within the temple was reserved
for the highest-ranking figures of the era, and for
representatives of distant, non-Inca communities all
over the empire who would render homage to the goods
of the Thahuantinsuyu.
THE FORTRESS
OF SACSAYHUAMAN
An imposing example of Inca military
architecture, Sacsayhuaman is located 2 km (1.24 miles)
from the city of Cuzco. The fortress was hewn from vast
granite blocks to protect the city from marauding eastern
tribes of the jungle, the Antis region. Sacsayhuaman
(“satisfied hawk” in Quechua, the Inca language)
is divided into three vast zig-zagging terraces and
flanked by massive stone walls, some up to 300 meters
long (984 feet), some of which stand 5 meters high (16.4
feet) and weigh over 300 tons. The site was used as
a quarry to provide stone for colonial buildings due
to the fact that it lies close to Cuzco.
THE SHRINES
OF QENQO AND TAMBOMACHAY
Two areas near Cuzco that feature
some superlative religious architecture are the shrines
of Qenqo and Tambomachay.
Qenqo is a vast rocky hilltop carved into
staircases, holes, and channels, probably built to store
the chicha (fermented maize beer) used in Inca rituals.
The site features, a semi-circular patio studded with
several large niches surrounding a stone figure embedded
within a chamber resembling an idol.
Tambomachay is another fine example of Inca architecture
still functioning today where it is made up of platforms,
niches and fountains; water flows down through them
from a spring higher up in the hills.
In Inca times, this was a sacred site used for worship
of the water deity, one of the shrines that made up
the Cuzco ceque, a system of imaginary grid lines that
irradiated to sacred spots or indicated the time and
place of the ceremonies.
GASTRONOMY
Lawa. Lawa. Fresh
maizeand bean soap.
Chicharron con mote.
Pork fritters and fresh maize.
Chiriucho. Roast
chicken or guinea pig, accompanied with and omelette
of toasted corn flour, cheese, salt-dried meat, rocoto
chilli pepper and algae.
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CESAR P. RIOS