Today we went to a couple of sites in the city of Cusco. Cusco was the very heart of the Incan empire. Today it is a cosmopolitan city of 400,000 residents. We first visited the Qoricancha (Gold courtyard). This site was once a very important Incan temple but after the Spanish conquered the Incas the cloister of Santo Dominigo was built on top of the foundation.
We next visited the local cathedral and saw impressive alters covered in silver and gold as well as very interesting examples of art in the style of the "Cusco school" from when the Spanish and Dominicans sought to convert the natives of Peru to Catholicism.
Our final visit of the morning was to an impressive Incan site called Sacsayhuaman. This site was apparently used for large celebrations of the summer solstice. The foundation walls on this site are enormous and the craftsmanship in how the stones fit together is awe inspiring. Many of the stones from the site were used to build cathedrals and other buildings in the center of Cusco.
Looking at the outline of Cusco as it was during the time of the Inca shows that the city was built in the shape of a puma and Sacsayhuaman forms the head of the puma. The puma, snake, and condor are all important icons in Incan spiritual practice and cosmology.
After a busy morning we had a wonderful lunch and then said a sad farewell to our local guide, Karina. We had the rest of the day to wander around the city on our own.
Tomorrow we have an early start and head back to Lima.
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