Tour Details
Portada / Sin categoría / Cusco City Tour Half Day
The city of Cusco (Qosqo), was considered in Inca times, the capital of the Inca empire and a sacred city, because before the arrival of the Spaniards. Cusco had the shape of a puma. Being the Inca complex of Sacsayhuaman (ceremonial place in Inca times and in colonial times described as a fortress), being this place the head of this city. The main square of Cusco, which was the heart, the Koricancha, the most important religious ceremonial center, was destroyed and in its foundations was built the Temple of Santo Domingo to settle the new Catholic religion.
And in the surroundings were built ceremonial centers such as Q’enqo (where possibly the mummy of the Inca Pachacuteq was kept), Tambomachay (Water Temple), and Pukapukara (military control center and entrance to the city of Qosqo.
Our tour includes a visit to the city of Cusco the Koricancha and on the outskirts of the city, the visit to the Inca sites of Sacsayhuaman, Q’enqo, Pukapukara, and Tambomachay.
KORICANCHA:
Before the arrival of the Spaniards to the capital of the Inca Empire, Cusco was considered a sacred city, it was the city in the shape of a puma, a sacred animal.
At the beginning of the history of the Incas in the Cusco Valley, the Koricancha was called the Intikancha (inti; sun and kancha; place, enclosure) or Intiwasi (inti; sun and wasi; house). It was a ceremonial center of worship to the Sun God, being at first of simple architecture. It was during the government of the Inca Pachacuteq, ninth Inca (1,438 – 1,472 AD), that all this ceremonial sector was rebuilt, with very fine architecture, of perfectly carved stones and some of them of many of more than 30 angles. The temples of the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Lightning, the Rainbow, and on the outskirts there was an artificial garden where the local flora and fauna were shown in natural size made of gold and silver.
Upon the arrival of the Spaniards to the city of Qosqo, the Koricancha was the first place to be looted of its greatest treasures (idols and mummies), and then be destroyed in its architecture and put on its walls a new Catholic construction called today the temple of Santo Domingo.
This is how the Koricancha or Santo Domingo where two cultures, two religions coexist in a religious and cultural syncretism, the Inca and the Spanish.
SACSAYHUAMAN:
The Inca complex of Sacsayhuaman is located on the outskirts of the city of Cusco, about 10 minutes from the Plaza de Armas of Cusco.
The word Sacsayhuaman derives from the Quechua language Sacsay (satisfied) and Huaman (falcon). Being the head of the city puma. It was in the government of the Inca Pachacuteq, that it begins to rebuild this ceremonial place dedicated to the worship of the Sun God and the Lightning God, by the zigzagging construction of its walls in the lower part, of blocks of stones of great size, some of them over 9 meters high with more than 120 tons of weight.
For its construction more than 20,000 men were used and an approximate 50 years. This conformed by different sectors, having in the low part of three lines of terraces in zigzagging form, which are oriented towards the Winter solstice (June 21). And at the top were built three towers that possibly had more than 20 meters high, being the tower of Muyucmarka was the most extraordinary in its construction which can be observed today in its planimetric design.
In 1536 AD, it was the Inca Manco Inca, who rose in arms to regain control and the Inca domain. Thus, in Sacsayhuaman, a great battle took place between the Inca and Spanish armies. After being defeated by the Incas in Cusco. This Inca ceremonial center is destroyed for the construction of many Catholic temples and colonial houses that today are in the center of the city of Cusco.
Today, every June 24th, the festival of Inti Raymi (inti; sun and Raymi; festivity, celebration) is celebrated in its plain.
Q’ENQO:
The Inca site of Q’enqo is located 5 minutes from the Sacsayhuaman complex, on the right side of the highway to Pukapukara.
The word Q’enqo, in the Quechua language, means zigzagging or labyrinth, because at the top of this Huaca (sacred place), is carved the figure of a zigzag, by which it is called. But in Inca times this place had the name of Patallaqta, which would be the place where the mummy of the Inca Pachacuteq was kept, who was the most important Inca in Inca history, since he conquered many territories, commanded to build many Inca villages, ceremonial centers, agricultural centers, Inca road and many more. Today can be admired in the city of Cusco, the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Machu Picchu, and the famous Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
In its architecture, there is a sector where they built a semicircular wall where there were 19 niches where possibly the most important mummies were placed to be venerated in the most important festivities. In front of them, there was a carved rock figure of a puma (sacred animal), which was destroyed with the idea of imposing the new religion.
In the central part, it has in carved rock, a great altar where possibly the mummy of the great Pachacuteq was placed, and close to it there are 2 niches where possibly ceremonial offerings are placed. This one in its horizontal form has the shape of the head of a llama.
PUKAPUKARA:
Inca site, located within the Sacsayhuaman Archaeological Park. Pukapukara means Puka; red and Pukara; fortress or watchtower. But in Inca times its original name was Tambomachay (tambo; inn, lodging, and machay; cave) since it has small enclosures that must have served as a place of shelter for travelers coming to the city of Cusco.
But at the same time, it must have served as an entrance control post to the city of Qosqo, since at the top there is a circular platform from where you can see the site called today Tambomachay, the Inca road that went towards the Sacred Valley of the Incas and the entire basin of the valley of Yunkaypata where there are several ceremonial centers of the Inca period.
The eleventh Inca Tupac Yupanqui (1,471 – 1,493), was in this area of Yunkaypata, where he used to hunt deer and spectacled bears, so say the chronicles of the Spaniards of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
TAMBOMACHAY:
The Inca complex of Tambomachay is located 200 meters from the site of Pukapukara. Tambomachay today is called by this name, but in Inca times it must have been called Quinuapukio (quinoa; quinoa and pukio; spring), the chronicles of the sixteenth century, mention this name, and its inhabitants near this place must have possibly been dedicated to the cultivation of quinoa (grain).
Tambomachay was a very important ceremonial center of worship to the water element. Knowing that at the time of the Incas the basis of the economy was agriculture. The Incas understood that water was a very vital element since without water there is no life. Thus, in many places of the vast Inca territory, several ceremonial centers of water worship were built, which can be seen in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, such as Pisac and Ollantaytambo, or the sacred city of Machu Picchu.
Quinuapukio presents in its architecture a main source of water, which then goes through a channel to reach the area of Yunkaypata. It also presents several niches of great size, where possibly very important offerings are placed, the same that were destroyed in the time of the colony.
Private transportation\
Official Tourist Guide
PRICE $160
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE PRICE
ENTRANCE FEES