After collecting our luggage, we then had a short bus ride to the town's center. In town, the main square was closed to traffic due to a large celebration with loud bands playing and many people parading in colorful outfits! It was quite the party. Apparently this goes on for two weeks to celebrate the summer solstice. Our bus driver needed to select an out-of-the-way place to park, but it was no problem!
Our guide here in the Andes was Wilbur, whom we took a decided liking to because of his vast knowledge of the area and its history. He told us that Cusco has about one half million people, some of whom still speak the Quechua language. Most of the people are mixed race, sometimes called mestizo. The native people are sometimes called "indios," but that is considered to be a slur, definitely not nice!
We walked into the main square, which is very large and charming, especially today. In the middle of the square is a large statue of the Inca leader, Pachacuti or Pachakutiq in Quechua. He ruled the Incas from about 1438 until 1472 and was responsible for expanding the dominion of the Incas from the Cusco area to much of western South America. The current layout of the square is about one half of the size that it was during the Inca times. There are no surviving buildings from the Inca times. The oldest buildings in Cusco date from the 1600's, the colonial era. Traveling to Cusco has taken us to the other side of the South American continental divide. The water here flows to the Amazon and the Atlantic, not the Pacific. The Incas chose Cusco as their capital because two rivers meet here. These rivers flow under the streets today.
Our tour then took us into the cathedral on the main square. It was a Jesuit church, but now serves as a museum. The plan of the cathedral was modeled after the cathedral in Seville, Spain. Facing the building, we entered into the left side, which was the original church (the Church of the Holy Family). We passed through this area into the main section. Wilbur told us about the unusual design of the altar, which is separated from the back wall. The cathedral walls are lined with many paintings, some quite large. Wilbur explained that the paintings were all completed by various "workshops" in Cusco. Each workshop would have had a contract with the Jesuits to complete the art in various parts of the cathedral. The workshops were all composed of native people who had been taught to paint in the European style. They copied European paintings. However, sometimes local or native imagery was inserted in the painting (this would have been done with permission). As an example, we saw in the carved wooden choir that below the arms of the choir are carvings of naked women -- definitely not something you would see in Europe. However, this was to add a local representation of mother earth. The choir was made by a workshop called the "Cusco School." Our attention was then drawn to a painting of the Black Christ, who is the lord of tremors. When this painting was brought in the main square, he stopped the 1650 earthquake in Cusco. Now, the painting is brought outside every Easter. Wilbur noted that many of the statues in the cathedral are resting on litters. They are brought outside and carried in a parade. The practice goes back to 1572.
Moving to the altar, Wilbur pointed out that it is silver plated and requires polishing. Another unusual feature of the cathedral is the inclusion of mirrors. Mirrors in churches were forbidden by the pope. Why are they here? The pope granted special permission so that the interior light of the cathedral could be enhanced. I noted that the cathedral was an especially tall building, and Wilbur agreed that it would have been very impressive to the natives when it was built. The Incas had constructed some tall towers, but had no knowledge of arches, so a tall building with arches like the cathedral would have been a marvel to them.
Behind the altar, we admired two large paintings that faced each other. One is of the last supper and has an interesting local influence. All of the apostles, as well as Jesus, have light complexions, except for Judas, who is dark. Rather than drinking wine, they are drinking pomegranite juice. Their meal consists of guinea pig, and there are bananas resting on the table. It is a copy of a Flemish work adapted to the New World. It is one of the most popular paintings in the cathedral and was painted in the 18th century.
We then entered the sacristy whose walls are adorned with paintings of all of Cusco's bishops, going back to Valdiverra, who had come with Pizarro.
The final area (to the right when facing the cathedral from outside) is called the Church of Triumph. This is because it was built on the site where the Spanish were sequestered during the siege of Cusco. This church was built in the 18th century.
We then exited and walked a few blocks to the Church of Santo Domingo. We stopped along the way for a photo op of women in fancy clothes (this is a tourist trap -- they will pose with anyone for money).
This was the first church built in Cusco and was built on top of the Inca's Temple of the Sun. Beneath the cloister of the church are the original Inca walls from the 15th century. Two sides of the walls remain: the east and the west sides. Inca temples were not used by ordinary people. The only people permitted inside were the Inca rulers and the religious elite. The buildings were used to store religious icons and mummies (all Inca rulers were mummified and consulted about major decisions -- as well as paraded around as needed). This temple was oriented to the sunrise. It would have had a lot of gold, which represented the sun. This was, of course, all plundered by the Spanish. In terms of building the temples, the Inca people would have used bronze tools. They did not have wheels or rollers or ramps. They did use levers. Some of the lever rods would have weighed twenty tons! The rocks used to build this temple came from seven miles away, east of Cusco. The labor was contributed by the people as tribute to the Inca ruler. Those in the labor class would have been required to work two months out of the year for the Inca ruler. Construction of the temple would have begun in the reign of Pachacuti (mid 1400's), and it would have taken about thirty years to complete. Inca walls were built to withstand earthquakes. The large blocks were sized to fit together perfectly with no mortar. The walls tilted inward, and the doorways were trapezoids. These doors were designed to reduce pressure on the lintel stone and thus fissures in the stone. As the blocks were laid, a kind of "rebar" was implemented into the construction. A channel would have been carved into the blocks adjacent to each other and this was filled with molten brass to bind the stones to each other. The stones were created with hammers and chisels, some very small. Abrasion with sand and water was another technique used to create a smooth surface. The roofs would have been perfectly level and supported thatched roof in an inverted V shape (not flat). All of this was very interesting, but to see these surviving walls was amazing!
Lunch was at a restaurant just off the main square called Limo. It was excellent. Rob and I both started with green salads then enjoyed a Peruvian specialty called Lomo Saltado, grilled beef with vegetables. For dessert we both passed on the richer options and had a simple fruit salad.
After lunch, we rode our bus to what is called the Sacred Valley towards the town of Pisac. The views we enjoyed were incredible, and we climbed to even higher altitudes -- over 14,000 feet above sea level. As we passed by common type houses, Wilbur pointed out that many (if not most) had statues of bulls on top of their roofs. This is a sort of witchcraft (Wilbur's choice of word). When the house was built, a local person called a doctor or a healer -- really a type of shaman -- comes to bless the house. This is one of about fifty different ceremonies that the shaman can perform. The bulls represent abundance or fertility. Wilbur also pointed out a snow covered mountain called Ausangate, over 20,000 feet (snow levels begin at about 16,000 feet). Arriving to views of the Sacred Valley, the bus stopped to let us out for pictures. The views were spectacular, but the angle of the sun was not auspicious for photography.
We descended into the town of Pisac, which lies at the eastern end of the Sacred Valley. The valley's river is known as the Urubamba. The main crop is corn -- we ccould see the terracing for the corn go all the way up the mountains. It is amazing! The river travels west and eventually becomes a tributary of the Amazon. Wilbur pointed out a street vendor along the sidewalk selling guinea pig on a stick -- yuk!
We did have one more stop: the Museo Inkariy, which has many exhibits that explore the life of the people before the colonial era. One of the aspects of ancient life that it explores is skull stretching or forming (kind of gross -- seems like something from a B movie). Unfortunately, we had very little time (running behind schedule and it was getting dark), so we left after only a short visit.
Our hotel is in a small city that takes its name from the river: Urubamba. The hotel is called Sol y Luna. It is a super-luxurious resort in the middle of the Sacred Valley that somehow seemed out of place here. Each room is its own casita and is enormous! The landscaping is also incredible, reminiscent of California or Arizona. It was already dark when we checked in, so we would need to see it all tomorrow.
After check-in there was a short break, then we all attended a cooking demonstration which started with how to make a pisco sour, Peru's national drink. Neither Rob nor I paid much attention to the demonstration, but the pisco sours were good. So was a soup that was made with quinoa.
Dinner tonight was at the hotel's restaurant and was very good. I had mushroom bisque with small chicken raviolis. Rob started with a salad. For mains, I had a sort of pork pot pie, and Rob had beef tenderloin. Another action packed day -- time to turn in!
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