Church of San Blas
The beautifully carved trunk of a single cedar tree serves as an intricate Churrigueresque style pulpit for an otherwise humble chapel in this art quarter of Cuzco. Some believe native craftsman Tomas Tuyco Tupa carved this famous New World pulpit in the 17th century. Others say an Amerindian leper initiated it during his euphoria of being cured.

Back in the Inca history this place used to be the "House of the Chosen Women" and the "Virgins of the Sun", so called by the Spanish used to live in here. These women waved exclusive textiles of alpaca and vicuna wool used for ceremonial purposes. Lots of these women were chosen to bear the children of the Inca's.

Nowadays you'll find The Santa Catalina Convent and Museum here, built over the ruins of this ones so famous Inca place. This convent was named after Saint Catherine of Siena, the founder of the Dominican's female order. In the museum you'll find famous paintings from the Escuela Cuscqueña and a religious art collection. Today some parts of the building are still occupied by an order of nuns.  

Tourists primarily visit the Church of Santo Domingo for the supreme example of Inca stonework founded at the Koricancha (Temple of the Sun) over which it was constructed. Severely damaged by earthquakes, the dilapidated Spanish colonial chapel outlived by the steadfast, dark Inca stone wall around which it was built is most interesting as a testament of the sturdiness of Incan construction.

During the Inca period, Koricancha was the most sacred and revered temple in Cusco. This intricately carved temple was dedicated to the worship of the sun and housed over 4,000 priests and their attendants. The Incas also used Koricancha as their main astronomical observatory.

Once the home of Admiral Francisco Aldrete Maldonado, this beautiful colonial mansion built on top of the Waypur stronghold where the rebellious Manco Inca besieged Spanish forces in 1536 now houses the Museo Inca. In addition to the world's largest collection of Incan qeros (wooden goblets), the museum has exhibits of mummies, trepanned skulls, jewelry, ceramics, textiles, and a variety of metal and gold artifacts, both from Incan and pre-Incan times. 


Designed by one of Peru's most respected contemporary painters, Federick Syszlo, the presentation and layout of MAP are an elegant deviation from the predictable colonial settings of most of Cuzco's museums. The Museum of Pre-Columbian Arts has a collection of painting, ceramics, jewelry, and silver and gold objects were handpicked from the Museum Larco in Lima. Only the most beautifully crafted items were selected, as this museum is less concerned with displaying the representative artifacts of Peru's diverse cultures and more about celebrating the rare artistic genius of select master craftsmen.

Sacsayhuaman is, without any doubt, the most impressive ruin near Cusco. Even the Spanish Conquistadores were stunned when facing this immense fortress.

Garcilaso de la Vega ones wrote about Sacsayhuamán:

"This fortress surpasses the constructions known as the Seven Wonders of the World. For in the case of a long broad wall like that of Babylon, or the Colossus of Rhodes, or the pyramids of Egypt, or the other monuments, one can see clearly how they were executed. They did it by summoning an immense body of workers and accumulating more and more material day-by-day and year-by-year. They overcame all difficulties by employing human effort over a long period. But it is indeed beyond the power of imagination to understand now these Indians, unacquainted with devices, engines, and implements, could have cut, dressed, raised, and lowered great rocks, more like lumps of hills than building stones, and set them so exactly in their places. For this reason, and because the Indians were so familiar with demons, the work is attributed to enchantment." 

Till now it's still unknown how the Inca's cut, dragged, puzzled and fitted all these huge blocks together to a perfect structure without using mortar. Some of these blocks weigh more than 50 tons! Just use your imagination how many people were needed to build something impressive like this, how many years it took and worse, how many people died during working on it...

Rough estimates are telling us that the fortress of Sacsayhuaman was finished after 60 years of hard work by 20.000 till 30.000 men. Legends tell us that some day a big stone broke through while being dragged uphill and took the lives of 3000 men.  

Just on the other side of the road from Puka Pukara you'll find the ruins of Tambomachay. These are besides Sacsayhuaman the most interesting ruins, which you can find near Cusco.

Due to the perfect quality of the stonework it is believed this place was used as a royal bath were the Inca ruler came every once in a while. Till today the stones are still very well fitted together and every day clear water pours down the two fountains. In August local people come here for different ceremonials all to worship the water.

These four ruins can easily be visited as part of a City Tour. For more information please take a look at our Cusco tours and activities.

When interested in more information about the Inca's and its history you should definitely visit the Sacred Valley.

The Sacred Valley starts about half an hour drive from Cusco. As the Valley is at a considerably lower altitude compared to Cusco the climate is warmer and altitude problems do not exist (The average altitude is 2800 meters above sea level).

Expect to see stunning views of surrounding mountains settled in a beautiful landscape and lots of opportunities to get impressions of Peru's agricultural live. We offer several daytrips in which it is possible to visit different villages, a typical Indian market and an important archeological Inca site in Ollantaytambo. Have a look at our Tours to the Sacred Valley and let us arrange your visit to this stunning valley of the Inca's. We strongly suggest spending at least one night in the peaceful valley and opting for an additional visit of Maras and the Salinas. For over-night possibilities check our Hotels in the Sacred Valley.