CITY TOUR

HALF DAY TOUR

The city of Cusco has many inspiring and interesting places to be visited. In our half-day tour, you will be guided through the most important sites around the city. We will visit Sacsayhuaman, an impressive example of Inca architecture built using large, polished stones; perfectly aligned. The group will also visit the Inca site of the ceremonial site of Qenqo, the Plaza de Armas (Main Square), the Cathedral and Koricancha; which was the main temple of the Inca Empire.

Saqsayhuaman -

This complex is believed to be an important Inca ceremonial center; its original walls had an impressive height of 6 meters and are a great example of a perfectly aligned stone structure constructed without using any type of binder material. However, with the arrival of the Spaniards, many of these perfectly polished stones were used to build churches in Cuzco, leaving the current day Saqsayhuaman incomplete.

Qenqo –

It is located near the archaeological site of Sacsayhuaman. In Inka times Qenqo was an important sacred rock with strong ceremonial purposes. Qenqo means labyrinth or zig-zag and actually it is a maze that leads to some subterranean galleries. There is an amphitheater here that has 19 niches at the top of a big rock where you will find also channels that transported blood when some ceremonial rituals took place, according some theories.

The Cathedral -

This is a Colonial religious monument of extraordinary artistic detail built on the foundation of a sacred Inka structure. Completed in 1654, 100 years after its construction began, it remains a central place of worship until today with daily masses. It also has a rich collection of Cusqueñan colonial art. It houses the famous "Last Supper" painting by the Cusqueño artist Marcos Zapata, which depicts the famous scene with an interesting addition on the table; a guinea pig, a typical food in the Andes.

Koricancha -

"The Temple of the Sun" means "Courtyard of Gold". It was the most important temple of the Inca Empire and was built in honor of "Inti", the sun god. The sixteenth-century Spanish chroniclers tell us that the walls of this temple were covered with gold plates. Due to the high significance this temple held throughout the Inca Empire, the Spanish built the Monastery of Santo Domingo upon the structure.