6 TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN CUSCO YOU SHOULD NOT MISS!
- The Main Square of Cuzco:
It was the administrative, religious and cultural center of the capital of the empire. After the conquest it was occupied by the Spaniards, who surrounded it with temples and mansions built on the surrounding Inca palaces. Today it is the central nucleus of modern Cuzco, surrounded by tourist restaurants, jewelry stores, travel agencies and the same temples of the period of the conquest.
- Cathedral of Cuzco:
This monument gathers characteristics of the Baroque Renaissance. Flanked by two solid towers. It has splendid altars of Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical style.
They are magnificent works of cusqueña craftsmanship its pulpit of carved wood and the stonework of the choir. It also highlights its collection of canvas from the Cusco school, among which stands out for its particularity a unique painting of the “Last Dinner” in which the main dish is the roasted cuy.
- The Qorikancha “Temple of the Sun or Temple of Santo Domingo:
It was the main Temple of the entire Inca Empire, occupied more than half the width of the present Church of Santo Domingo, the walls were covered with gold plates, there were a gold disk representing the figure of the Sun who was the God.
- Fortress of Sacsayhuaman and surrounding ruins:
It is a “ceremonial fortress” Inca, located two kilometers north of the city of Cuzco, is made up of megalithic walls, the greatest architectural work carried out by the Incas during its splendour. From the fortress there is a unique panoramic view of the surroundings, including the city of Cuzco. From here you can visit the temples of “Kenko”, there are natural and carved stones, then the entrance or control of the eastern side of the city “Puca Pucara” and also “Tambomachay”, where there are three beautiful Inca springs.
- Sacred Valley: (Mercado Pisac and Ollantaytambo)
In the Sacred Valley of the Incas, there are beautiful colonial towns that were created, and today they show their mestizaje in architecture, art and living culture. There are the towns of Chinchero and its weavers, “Písac and its handicraft fair”, Urubamba and its cosmopolitanism, “Ollantaytambo, with its fortress and its Inca people alive” and Maras Moray with its ancestral Salineras.
- Macchu Picchu:
It is considered a masterpiece of architecture and engineering. Its peculiar architectural and landscape features, and the veil of mystery that has woven around it much of the literature published on the site, have made it one of the most popular tourist destinations on the planet.
Machu Picchu has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1983, as part of an entire cultural and ecological complex known as the “Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu”. On July 7, 2007 Machu Picchu was declared one of the new seven wonders of the modern world in a ceremony held in Lisbon (Portugal), with the participation of one hundred million voters worldwide.