El alemán en Perú: Cusco

Hey folks,

which culture comes to your mind when thinking of Peru? The Inkas, of course. Even though they only were one of many different cultures in Peru and additionally a quite short-lived their mastership in architecture and gold handcraft are matchless and tourists are still intrigued by this mystic tribe. Furthermore, the Inkas were utterly gifted fighters and managed to conquer the whole area which today is Peru (without the jungle) plus parts of Bolivia, Ecuador,Colombia, Chile and Argentina (they only existed from the 13th to 16th century!). And, you know, every empire needs its capital, and that's just where I am, in Cusco, the heart of the Inka realm.

Unfortuantely, in the beginning of the 16th century some amor wearing and gun carrying Europeans, called the Spanish (you probably know their leader, Francisco Pizarro), conquered the Inka empire, destroyed its temples (and built churches instead) and robbed its gold.
Nonetheless, you can still see the Inka heritage (especially their stone architecture) everywhere in the city, most times laying the foundation for Spanish colonial buildings.

But I should start from the beginning. As you probably remember I had been in Puno at Lake Titicaca. On monday I set sail to Cusco (well, I didn't use a ship but the wonderful train connection between the two cities). The trip was interesting (we reached altitudes of more than 4,000 metres) and really comfortable. The personnel was very decent and we had a delicious lunch on the train, as well.

We arrived in Cusco at 6:00 p.m. (the ride took 10 hours) and first looked for a nice hostal which we found. We then had a first glimpse at the wonderful Plaza de Armas (main square) and decided to make it our first destination the next day.

The main square features a lot of churches: La iglesia de la compañia and a church complex consisting of two chapels (Jesus Maria and El triunfo) and the cathedral. The latter is just overwhelmingly beautiful and we were stunned by all the silver and gold decorations inside (the church was built on the territory of a former Inka temple). Unfortunately, it wasn't allowed to take pictures.

Cusco is well-known for its narrow roads flanked by huge Inka stones and consequently we couldn't resist taking a stroll through the old-town. We went up a really steep street to get a better view on the city.

As I've already written, the Inkas were famous for their walls. They wouldn't use simple square blocks but polyangled rocks perfectly fitting together. A unique example of this art is the socalled Piedra de los doce ángulos (a stone with twelve angles). Count yourself!

In the late afternoon, we paid a visit to the Museo de arte precolombino which is specialised in pre-columbian art and handcraft. Some really nice exhibits were waiting for us. Have a look!

For today, we had planned get a glimpse at some archeological sights. The first one is called Sacsayhuamán meaning "content falcon". This ruin was of both religious and miltary use. Extremely amazing are the giant stones it is built of, some of them weighing more than a dozen tons (I wonder how the Inkas managed to take them there).

After the visit, we made our way up an adjacent hill featuring a white Christ statue (did the copy the one in Rio de Janeiro?). The view, again, was tremendous.

We then grabbed a bite and I used the opportunity to try another Peruvian speciality: Chicha. This can be, I think, translated as corn beer (it looks like beer, at least) but tastes like sweet wine or even cidre. Well, it needs getting used to!

In the afternoon, yet another Inka ruin was waiting for us: Qorikancha. This had been an Inka temple (the walls were covered with gold!) before the Spanish destroyed it and built a church (Santo Domingo) in his stead. Nowadays, the old Inka buildings can be visited again. This sight is really special, because the Inka temples can be found next to the convent and church of Santo Domingo.