Wednesday the 14th of May 2003 – Day 85

Wednesday the 14th of May 2003 – Day 85

Got up early to do the museums and cathedrals of Cuszo. You can buy a Cuszo visitor ticket for 10 US (or 5 US if you have a students card and are under 25). It lasts 10 days. You cannot get into some churches and museums without it. The boleto allows admission to the following sights:

– La Catedral
– Museo de Arte Religioso
– Iglesia de San Blas
– Municipal Palace Museum (in the Palacio Municipal, Santa Teresa s/n tel. 084/223-511)
– Museo Arqueol?gico del Qoricancha
– Museo Hist?rico Regional
– Convento y Museo de Santa Catalina

The Inca ruins of Sacsayhuam?n, Q’enko, Puca Pucara, Tambomachay, Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, Pikillacta, and Tip?n.

I had to sure to carry the ticket with me when planning to make visits, as guards will demand to see it so that they can punch a hole alongside the corresponding picture.

First Place I visited is not part of the ticket and the cost is 6 S. It is called Qoricancha-Templo del Sol & Santo Domingo

“Qoricancha and Santo Domingo together form perhaps the most vivid illustration in Cusco of Andean culture’s collision with Western Europe. Like the Great Mosque in Cordoba, Spain–where Christians dared to build a massive church within the perfect Muslim shrine–the temple of one culture sits atop and encloses the other. The extraordinarily crafted Temple of the Sun was the most sumptuous temple in the Inca Empire and the apogee of the Incas’ naturalistic belief system. Some 4,000 of the highest-ranking priests and their attendants were housed here. Dedicated to worship of the sun, it was apparently a glittering palace straight out of El Dorado legend: Qoricancha means “golden courtyard” in Quechua, and in addition to hundreds of gold panels lining its walls, there were life-size gold figures, solid-gold altars, and a huge golden sun disc. The sun disc reflected the sun and bathed the temple in light. During the summer solstice, the sun still shines directly into a niche where only the Inca chieftain was permitted to sit. Other temples and shrines existed for the worship of lesser natural gods: the moon, Venus, thunder, lightning, and rainbows. Qoricancha was the main astronomical observatory for the Incas.

After the Spaniards ransacked the temple and emptied it of gold (which they melted down, of course), the exquisite polished stone walls were employed as the foundations of the Convent of Santo Domingo, constructed in the 17th century. The baroque church pales next to the fine stonemasonry of the Incas–and that’s to say nothing about the original glory of the Sun Temple. Today, all that remains is Inca stonework. Thankfully, a large section of the cloister has been removed, revealing four original chambers of the temple, all smoothly tapered examples of Inca trapezoidal architecture. Stand on the small platform in the first chamber and see the perfect symmetry of openings in the stone chambers. A series of Inca stones displayed reveals the fascinating concept of male and female blocks, and how they fit together. The 6m (20-ft.) curved wall beneath the west end of the church, visible from the street, remains undamaged by repeated earthquakes and is perhaps the greatest example of Inca stonework. The curvature and fit of the massive stones is astounding.

After the Spaniards had taken Cusco, Francisco Pizarro’s brother Juan was given the eviscerated Temple of the Sun. He died soon after, though, at the battle at Sacsayhuam?n, and he left the temple to the Dominicans, in whose hands it remains.”

I then went to see the following:
(1) Iglesia de San Blas, said to be the oldest parish church in Cusco (admission is by boleto tur?stico). Though a simple adobe structure, it contains a marvelously carved, Churrigueresque cedar pulpit. Some have gone as far as proclaiming it the finest example of woodcarving in the world; carved from a single tree trunk, it is certainly great. Spent about 20 minutes there. Ok, not unmissable but nice walk up there and very nice neighborhood. On the way back down to the city centre I went to:

(2) Museo de Arte Religioso (Palacio Arzobispal) – One of Cuszo fameous streets, Hatunrumliyoc, a pedestrian alleyway lined with magnificent Inca stonemasonry, the Museum of Religious Art is housed in a handsome colonial palace that previously belonged to the Archbishop of Cusco (and before that, it was the site of the palace of Inca Roca and then the home of a Spanish marquis). Inside is a nice collection of colonial religious paintings, notable for the historical detail they convey. Spent 1 hour here.

(3) Museo Arqueolgico del Qoricancha – In three small rooms, this underground museum, across the garden from the Temple of the Sun and Santo Domingo, presents a decent collection of ceramics, metalwork, and textile weavings of Inca and pre-Inca civilizations, as well as a host of other archaeological finds. The museum pales in comparison to Qoricancha and the Museo Inka, however. Allow about a half hour, tops.
(4) Convento y Museo de Santa Catalina – A small convent a couple of blocks west of the Plaza de Armas, Santa Catalina was built between 1601 and 1610 on top of the Acllawasi, where the Inca emperor sequestered his chosen Virgins of the Sun. The convent contains a museum of colonial and religious art. The collection includes an excellent collection of Escuela Cusque?a paintings, featuring some of the greatest works of Amerindian art–a combination of indigenous and typically Spanish styles–in Cusco. The collection includes four paintings of the Lord of the Earthquakes (El Se?or de los Temblores) painted by Amerindians. The interior of the monastery is quite beautiful, with painted arches and an interesting chapel with baroque frescoes of Inca vegetation. Other items of interest include very macabre statues of Jesus and an extraordinary trunk that, when opened, displays the life of Christ in 3-D figurines. (It was employed by the Catholic Church’s “traveling salesmen,” who were used to convert the natives in far-flung regions of Peru). The main altar of the convent church is tucked behind steel bars.

(5) La Catedral – Built on the site of the palace of the Inca Viracocha, Cusco’s cathedral is a beautiful religious and artistic monument, but until 2005, it will be undergoing massive restoration, and much of it is under wraps. The central nave looks like a construction site, entirely supported by wooden beams. Completed in 1669 in the Renaissance style, the cathedral possesses some 400 canvasses of the distinguished Escuela Cusque?a that were painted from the 16th to 18th centuries. There are also amazing woodcarvings, including the spectacular cedar choir stalls. The main altar–which weighs more than 401 kilograms (882 lb.) and is fashioned from silver mined in Potosi, Bolivia–features the patron saint of Cusco. To the right of the altar is a particularly Peruvian painting of the Last Supper, with the apostles drinking chicha (fermented maize beer) and eating cuy. The Capilla del Triunfo (the first Christian church in Cusco) is next door, to the right of the main church. It holds a painting by Alonso Cortés de Monroy of the devastating earthquake of 1650 and an altar adorned by the locally famous “El Negrito” (aka “El Se?or de los Temblores,” or Lord of the Earthquakes), a brown-skinned figure of Christ on the cross that was paraded around the city by frightened residents during the 1650 earthquake (which, miracle or not, ceased shortly thereafter). No photos allowed.

Finished my museum and church visiting at 5.30pm. Met Sarah on the street and we went to dinner in a post back packers gaff with nice music and good food. Had Asian chicken for 15 Soles. Promised to met her and Peter at 11.00 in Mama Africas. After that checked out a few agencies who offer the Inca Trail (4 days / 3 nights). Prices differ from 140 US to 280 US.

Met the two lads (Peter and Sarah), and didnt really enjoy Mama Africas. Cuszo is a party town with party pubs. Place was like Tralee during Eose week. Lots of young gringoes getting drunk, drinking Pisco Sours, dancing to chezzy pop. There are about a dozen places like this within metres of the city centre. Watch it folks. Two people fainted beside me. Drinking at altitude is hard. I had to take one lad out after he fainted. No waking him and was a very stuffy atmosphere. He recovered outside. I think people thought I was a bouncer. People were separating in front of me after that. Had a drink in the Irish Pub next door called O Flatertys. Owned by a Carlow man, whom I had a chat with. Went to spoon disco after. Stayed 20 minutes and went home at 2.30pm.