Cusco City Tour Half Day

CUSCO CITY TOUR – PRIVATE GUIDED TOURS EVERY DAY

In the morning (9 am) or afternoon (1pm)

In the  morning or afternoon, tour the Imperial City of Cusco, a living museum with a mix of Andean and Spanish cultures. Visit Koricancha, the ancient Inca Palace and the main worship center of the Sun Inti, which was once filled with gold until plundered during the conquest. The tour continues to the unmatched archeological site of Sacsayhuaman fortress and its military Inca architecture, which dominates the city and is constructed with 100 ton boulders, the heaviest being 128 tons. No nearby quarry matches these stones and archeologists do not agree on how they were transported here! Finally, we explore the archeological sites of Q’enqo, Puca Pucara and Tambomachay before heading back to your hotel in Cusco by early evening.

Koricancha and the Convent of Santo Domingo

The convent was built on the spectacular Koricancha ‘Field of gold’. This was the most important temple dedicated to the worship of the Sun and the walls of which were lined with solid sheets of gold. All that remains now is the fine stonework because conquistadors took the gold and destroyed most of the temple to build the convent on top. Koricancha was also an observatory, where priests kept track of major celestial events. Today, some of the original architecture has been restored and it also houses an impressive collection of canvas paintings from the Cusco School of Art. 

Sacsayhuaman

Sacsayhuaman (which means ‘satisfied falcon’) is one of the most impressive sites built by the Incas. It is generally referred to as a military fortress. The stones in the wall are incredible and the largest one weighs 128 tons, with no clear explanation on how they come to be at the site. The Incas designed Cusco in the shape of a puma, with Sacsayhuaman as the head. Sacsayhuaman is still used today for the Inti Raymi festival held to celebrate the winter solstice on the 24th of June.

Q’enqo

The site of Q’enqo (meaning ‘maze’ in Quechua) contains very impressive hand-carved sections of bedrock. There are carvings everywhere, although some are very indistinct, such as a llama, a condor and snakes have been identified. There are many zigzag channels on top of the natural rock, probably used for pouring sacrificial chicha (a local fermented beverage made from corn). Below the rock, there are a number of caves and passageways, and an altar which was used for the sacrifices of llamas. Mummifications of buried people have been discovered by archeologists in these caves!

Puka Pukara

Puka Pukara is translated to ‘the red fortress’ in Quechua. This is a small site and although the name suggests that it was a fortress, it does not appear to have had any defensive purpose. Archeologists theorize that it could have been used to protect the water source at Tambomachay.

Tambomachay

The name means “place of rest” in Quechua. It was the royal home of the Inca Yupanqui when he went to hunt in the surrounding area. This site was also thought to have been used as a Temple to the Water. There are some interesting aqueducts, canals and cascades sculpted out of stone, designed to channel water flowing from a nearby stream.