This is the oldest surviving Inca wall in Cusco and one of the most distinguished.
Just to the right of the woman is the famed 12-angled stone magnificently fitted into the wall.
Although this large stone is impressively cut, the Incas almost routinely fitted many-cornered stones
(with as many as 44 angles, as seen in Machu Picchu) into structures like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
The Museo Inka is housed in the impressive Admirals Palace, Cusco's finest colonial mansions, with a superbly ornate portal
indicating the importance of its owner. The house was built on top of yet another Inca palace in the 17th century. The museum
is a great introduction to Inca culture. Artifacts are displayed in various rooms designed to help the visitor trace Peruvian history
from pre-Inca civilizations and Inca culture including the impact of the Spanish conquest and colonial times on the culture. On
display are ceramics, textiles, jewelery, mummies, and the world's largest collection of Inca drinking vessels,
carved out of wood, many meticulously painted.
The Spaniards were greatly in awe of the Inca capital, which they captured in 1533. Spanish chronicles
describe Cusco as "the richest city in the Indies, because it was filled with treasure for the grandeur of gods."
The Incas regarded gold and silver as sacred. Gold was called the "Sweat of the Sun", associated with the sun god,
and silver was known as the "Tears of the Moon". The Incas were highly skilled metalsmiths, they knew how to hammer
metal into thin sheets, creating a raised pattern on the reverse side. They also knew how to solder, and how to cast in molds.
Objects exquisitely crafted in silver and gold were valued for their symbolism and reserved for luxury and ceremonial uses.
Weaving was another art form that was highly respected during Inca times.
As seen here Cumbi, the finest cloth, was one of the privileges that only the Inca nobles enjoyed.
The wool of the wild vicuna was used for the garments of the elite. An elaborate
tapestry tunic worn by the emperor usually came from the skilled hands of women
in religious service, and could have as many as 400 ends per inch.
The Santo Domingo Church was once the Templo del Qoricancha - the Temple of the Sun -
the most magnificent complex in Cusco. Its walls (the exquisitely hand-polished stone walls, seen below)
were covered by gold, and windows were constructed so the sun would shine directly into a niche where only the Inca
chieftain was permitted to sit. Dedicated to the worship of the sun the temple was the main astronomical observatory
for the Incas. Within the gold panels, lining its walls, there were life-sized gold figures, solid gold altars, and a huge golden sun disc.
Other temples and shrines existed for the worship of lesser gods: the Moon, Venus, Thunder, Lightning and the Rainbow.
After the Spaniards ransacked the temple and emptied it of gold, they built the Convent of Santo Domingo
upon the original Inca foundations. The baroque church pales (as seen behind the stone walls) next to the fine masonry of the Incas.
Inca architecture was based on a method of stacking blocks of granite one upon another, with no mortar to hold them together.
The 20-foot curved wall beneath the church (notice it as the darker black stone in photo, two above) remains undamaged by
repeated earthquakes. The curvature and fit of the massive stones is astounding,
and represents one of the greatest examples of Inca stonework.
The cathedral (seen earlier in the Plaza de Armas) built on what was once the palace of Inca Viracocha,
mixes Spanish Renaissance architecture with the stone-working skills of the Incas, and took a century to build.
Completed in 1669, the cathedral possesses some 400 paintings of the distinguished Cusquena School, painted from the
16th to the 18th centuries. The main altar is fashioned from solid-silver (mined in Bolivia), weighs more than 882
pounds and features patron saints of Cusco. (below)
There are also amazing woodcarvings, including spectacular cedar choir stalls with saints, popes,
and bishops, all in stunning detail down to their delicately articulated hands.
To the right of the main altar is a particular Peruvian painting of the Last Supper, showing Christ and his
Indian-looking apostles dinning on Cuy (roast guinea pig) and drinking Chicha (fermented maize beer).
Prev Page Next Page