Christian Cusco

Built on the foundations of the palace of the Inca Roca, this remarkable Moorish-style building once belonged to the Marquis de Buenavista and later became the Archbishop's Palace. The archbishop still lives in one wing of the building but the rest is open to the public. The elaborate garden, doorways and arcades are well worth seeing and then there is the museum collection as well.


The museum has a fine collection of colonial paintings and furniture. The paintings are mainly Cusquena-school paintings, many by famed artist Marcos Zapata. A highlight of the collection is a series of 17th-century paintings that depict the city’s Corpus Christi procession. Unfortunately, many of the works in the museum’s 12 rooms are not labelled and frankly, I found the building more interesting than the contents.


It may have helped if we had used one of the bilingual guides that were available to give us a tour and we discovered later that their services are included in the admission price. This museum is part of the boleto integral (integral ticket) which can be purchased at the cathedral. It includes admission to the cathedral, religious art museum, and church of San Blis. If you do not have one of these individual admission here is 6 soles.


It is not clear to me when this museum opens because I was given conflicting information on site compared to the ticket. One option is Monday to Saturday 08:30-11:30, 15:00-17:30, while another option is weekdays 08:00-18:00 and weekends 10:00-18:00. Maybe it depends on the time of the year.

If religious art turns you on, this is a great place for you and you can probably spend hours here. My wife and I did a quick 20 minute spin through the collection and probably spent half this time looking at the building. As you can tell, we are not really into this sort of art but I must say that we enjoyed our short visit and would recommend it to anyone.

The Plaza de Armas was known as Huacaypata (Warrior Square in Quechan) in Inca times and is believed to have been designed by Manco Cápac. It originally extended over a larger area than today’s square. It was the centre of Inca Cusco and, still today, remains at the heart of the city. During Inca times the Plaza was a place of ceremonies and military parades. It has been said that when the Inca's conquered new lands they would bring back some of the soil to be mixed with the soil of Huacaypata, as a symbolic gesture to incorporate the newly gained territories into the Inca empire.


The Plaza was once flanked with Inca palaces but these were all destroyed by the Spanish. The remains of the ancient walls of Inca Pachacutec's palace can still be seen on the north-west side of the square (inside the Roma Restaurant close to the corner of the Plaza and Calle Plateros.


Today the Catholic Cathedral and the Church of La Compañía flank it on two sides making it a major Christian site within Cusco. Tourist restaurants and souvenir shops call out from beautiful stone arches fronting buildings that surround other sides. The Plaza was the scene of many key events in the history of the city. It was here that Pizarro proclaimed the conquest of Cusco.

Unusually, the plaza is not completely flat and streets head uphill and downhill from either side. The northern and western sides of the Plaza are now lined by eight colonial-style arcades bearing religious or commercial names, with shops and travel agencies. There are many restaurants, bars and coffee shops with beautifully carved wooden balconies overlooking the Plaza. These are great places to relax and enjoy the view.

The plaza would be the perfect place to hang out, relax, and people watch under Cusco's sunny blue skies but unfortunately it is plagued by hoards of street vendors during the day who constantly approach and pressure you to buy things. The plaza is beautiful at night, too, when the fountain and churches are all bathed in soft lighting and there seems to be less vendor pressure. Don’t miss this quintessential postcard view then check out one of the ground floor or upstairs restaurants for dinner.

Erected in 1536 and rebuilt in Baroque-style in1680 after the great earthquake, the Iglesia de La Merced ranks just below Cusco Cathedral and La Compania Church in importance. To emphasise this importance, the church was designated a Minor Basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1946. The church and convent were founded by Riña Sebastián de Castañeda on a plot donated by Francisco Pizarro.

La Merced has a beautiful facade, including the baroque-style tower, and lovely cloisters. Inside, there is a main wide gallery and two relatively narrow corridors. Its main altar is neoclassic with six solid Corinth columns. There are other altarpieces with different images, among which stand out the Señor de Huanca (Lord of Huanca) and the Cross of the Priest of Urraca, which are covered with silver plates.


The sacristy contains a small museum of religious art, including a spectacular 1.3 meter high and 22 kg. solid-gold monstrance swathed in precious stones. This is crowned by an immense siren-shaped pearl, which is considered the second largest of the world. There is also a painting of the Holy Family attributed to Rubens.

We thought the convent's cloister was the most beautiful and amazing structure within the complex. It is square-shaped, has two floors, and one arc-shaped entrance with thick and solid rectangular pillars that exhibit the Corinth columns carved on their front sides. The second cloister, from 1650, is relatively simple and more modern. The first cloister has canvases representing the life of Saint Pedro de Nolasco that were painted by Ignacio Chacón in 1763. In addition, Basilio Pacheco painted the enormous canvas representing the benefactors of the order, which is located near the staircase that leads to the second floor. On the second level, there is a collection of canvases representing the life of Saint Augustine, which was moved after the destruction of the Saint Augustine church and the convent.

The church's crypt shelters the remains of two famous conquistadors, Diego de Almagro and Gonzalo Pizarro.


The entrance fee is 6 soles. The museum opens Monday to Saturday 09:00-12:30, 14:00-17:30.

This Jesuit church stands close to La Cathedral almost as if it were in competition with it. The Church of the Society of Jesus rivals the nearby cathedral in grandeur and prominence on the main square. It is said this was an intentional move by the Jesuits, which did not go over too well with the then Archbishop of Cusco who appealed to the Pope for support for the cathedral.

Originally begun in the late 16th century, the church was almost entirely demolished by the earthquake of 1650, rebuilt, and finally finished 18 years later. Like the cathedral, La Compañía was built on the site of an important ancient palace, that of the Inca Huayna Cápac (said to be the most beautiful of all the Inca rulers' palaces) which had been destroyed by the Spanish.

La Compañía de Jesús is said to be one of the best examples of colonial Baroque architecture in the Americas. You will be impressed by the outstanding carved facade and the two baroque towers. Inside, it's rather gloomy, but the gilded altar is stunning, especially when illuminated. The golden altarpiece, decorated with wreathed columns, features an old image of the virgin and a panel of the transfiguration attributed to the Flemish Jesuit Diego de la Puente.

La Compañía possesses several other important works of art, including a picture of Saint Ignatius de Loyola by the local painter Marcos Zapata, and a Crucifixion by Cristo de Burgos near the main altar.

Also of note are the paintings to either side of the entrance, which depict the marriages of Saint Ignatius's nephews. One of these especially exemplifies Peru's mestizo character, depicting the granddaughter of Manco Inca marrying the man who captured the last Incan leader, Tupac Amaru.

The church is open most of the time and there are several masses each day. Entrance is free but there is a guard by the door to turn away anyone who looks ‘inappropriate’, whatever that means. Fortunately, we managed to pass inspection and we were suitably impressed by everything we saw. A visit is definitely recommended.

Located in the center of Cusco on the Plaza de Armas, Cusco’s massive stone cathedral is well worth a visit. The building is impossible to miss but I urge you to go inside because it is equally impressive inside and out. Construction began in 1560 on the site of the palace of Inca Wiracocha; much of the stone used to build the cathedral was brought from Sachsayhuamán and other Inca sites. Time and earthquakes took their toll on the cathedral but an ambitious restoration project which took place between 1997 and 2002 has returned it to something like its original splendour.


The design is based on a Latin-cross, the façade has a Renaissance style but some of the building is in the baroque-style, and it contains the best manifestations of colonial goldsmith and wood carving, as well as a valuable collection of canvases from the Escuela Cusqueña (Academy of Cusco). There are two auxiliary chapels on both sides: Capilla del Triunfo (the city’s first church and the Sagrada Familia church. The latter provides the normal access to the cathedral.

The main altar, made of silver, is one of the latest works of the whole structure. It has the shape of a baldachin and it represents the introduction of the neoclassic style to the city. It was constructed in the 1792-1803 period. Behind is the original wooden altar primitive dedicated to St. Paul. We were very impressed by the 64-seat cedar choir which has rows of carved saints, popes and bishops in stunning detail.


All the lateral chapels are enclosed by amazing golden railings and crowns with carvings. The altars of the Señor de los Temblores located on the right side and the altar of the Virgen de los Remedios are rich in gold and silver offerings, Here you can also find the so-called "capilla de la Platería" ("Silversmith Chapel"). Its most precious jewel is the enormous silver temple that is used as a processional portable platform for the Corpus Christi. It was a gift from the Bishop Friar Bernardo de Serrada in 1731.


On the left side the chapels of Virgen Inmaculada and the Capilla del Apóstol Santiago are significant. In the front wall, the altar of the Saint Trinity encompasses the famous Virgen del Halcón (Virgin of the Falcon) painting.

One of the most luxuriously decorated precincts of the entire building is the sacristy that, from the entrance, displays a collection of allegoric paintings about the church executed by Marcos Zapata. Note in particular the Last Supper with some local touches. Inside, the furniture, carvings and paintings create a baroque environment of great effect. One of the walls is covered by a huge altarpiece that frames a famous painting of the "Cristo de la Agonía", traditionally known as the Christ of Van Dyck, Be sure to check out the Matia Angola bell in the bell tower, made with more than fifty pounds of gold.

Entrance to the cathedral is not included as part of the Cusco Tourist Ticket (see my Cusco Sightseeing journal). You have to buy a ticket separately for 25 soles or a joint religious ticket for 50 soles.