Discovering The Incan Cusco

Although the main impetus for our recent trip to Peru was to hike the Inca Trail, I secretly looked forward to visiting the historical city of Cusco the most. Because I did not have much time to do proper research on this trip, I knew practically nothing about Cusco. While I knew Cusco was an ancient city, I did not realize it was the capital of the Incas, the largest empire in the Western hemisphere. While I was aware of the city’s connection to the Incas, I did not realize Cusco was the capital of the Incas. Machu Picchu may be the most famous Inca city, but Cusco is the best introduction to this fascinating culture.

Naturally, a good place to start learning about the history of any city is the history museum. Luckily, Cusco has plenty of fine museums for visitors to pick from. From the Museum of Pre-Columbian Arts to the Coca Museum, something is interesting for any visitor. But our favorite is the Regional Historical Museum of Cusco, conveniently included in the Cusco Tourist Ticket (Boleto Turistica del Cusco). This museum provides a chronological and well-curated overview of Cucso’s long and layered history. For me, the collection's highlight is a golden disc known as Sol de Soles (Sun of Suns). This unique national treasure measures about 5.3 inches in diameter and has long been considered the national symbol of the Incas due to its religious symbolism and superb artistry.

The people of Cusco have widely adopted the symbol in both official and unofficial capacities. This emblem could be spotted across the Cucso; the city even put it on the city’s flag (to distinguish it from the LGBT pride flag). So we were surprised that this important emblem was only repatriated back to Peru from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington two years ago. Many historical Inca artifacts were taken to European and American universities and museums. Not until this decade did many Western institutions understand that these items belonged to their homeland.

Echenique Disc, the symbol of Cusco and the Incas, was returned by the Smithsonian Insitute back to Cusco only in 2021.

As much as these museums do a great job of telling the stories of the Incas, the Incas' legacy is best experienced on the streets of the city center. More than any other city I have been to, Cusco wears its heritage proudly and beautifully. Despite the colonists’ desires to eradicate the Incan identity, the Inca’s foundation is unshakable, both physically and metaphorically. To understand Cusco’s identity, it’s best to retrace the footsteps of the Incas.

The City of Puma

Technically speaking, the name Cusco means “rock of the owl” in the Aymara language. Cusco’s founding myth is very similar to Tenochtitlan (Mexico City); Mesoamerican people often let animals pick their place of settlement. But more importantly, Cusco was known as the “city of the puma” in the Inca’s time. While pumas are native to this part of the Andes, this nickname holds special religious and cultural significance. In Incan cosmology, puma represents intelligence, strength, and the realm of the living. It turned out that the inner city of Cusco was laid out in the outline of a puma.

Image credit: Smithsonian - National Museum of the American Indian.

During the Inca times, the Cusco’s puma shape was quite pronounced. The head of the “puma” is the fortress of Sacsayhuamán. The “body” of the puma is defined by two rivers that converge at its tail. Located at the “belly” of the beast was Hawkaypata, the city’s central plaza. The decision to model their capital after a puma was also practical. As an empire, the Incas established their authority by subjugating their rivals. It was fair to say that they were not universally beloved among the surrounding tribes. By planning Cusco in the shape of a puma, the Incas communicated the metaphysical strength of their empire even from afar.

Many of open spaces in central Cusco correpsond with the original “puma city”.

Back then, Cusco was divided into four quarters, each representing four constituent provinces of the empire. Four separate ceremonial paths led out from each section toward their titular land. Individual governors were asked to set up a residence in their respective quarter and resided there for part of the year. In other words, the Incas recreated their empire in miniature in Cusco. The emperor set up his residence at Qollqanpata Palace, which overlooked the Cuscco and his empire.

Unlike Europe’s medieval cities, Incan cities are laid out with military precision. The straight streets and rectangular blocks are highly efficient in transportation and defense. Cusco has long outgrown its original puma-shaped boundary. The Spanish colonists recognized the quality of Incan construction and urban planning. They largely retained the layouts of the Incan city. For anyone who cares to study the map of central Cusco, the outline of the puma is still recognizable today.

The impressive Incan stonework at the base of the Archbishop’s Palace.

All around central Cusco, one could find motifs of puma at numerous corners from lamposts and fountains. But if you look for them, you could spot many bronze plaques with Cusco puma inlaid on the sidewalk. These unique wayfinding markers help orient visitors about the Incan Cusco. Indeed, they may not have much utility in the Google Maps and smartphones age. But for those in the know, these plaques are wonderful reminders of the past and a lovely way to situate ourselves.

It was obvious that the Spanish thought highly of the Incan construction. Grand palaces and mansions were built right on top of the Inca walls. The trademark ashlar walls are nothing short of impressive. I could only imagine the conquistadors' awe when they saw it for the first time. It is maddening that archaeologists still aren’t completely certain how the Incas achieved such precision in construction. They were often fitted so tightly that you could not put a credit card through their seams.

The “twelve-angled stone” at the Archbishop’s Palace.

In Cusco, there is no shortage of impressive Inca construction. But none is as impressive or famous as the “twelve-angled stone.” Located at the exterior of the Archbishop’s Palace, this fabled stone is regarded as the epitome of Incan stonework. The geometric complexity is an object of curiosity and a showcase of the Inca’s architectural prowess. The twelve-angled stone has since been designated a Cultural Heritage of Peru and is now an important tourist attraction in its own right.

Coricancha

Not surprisingly, the most crucial building in Inca Cusco was a temple to the sun god Inti. Known as Coricancha, or the Golden Temple in Quechuan, the temple was razed during the Spanish conquests and later demolished to construct a Dominican monastery. From the exterior, it just looks like any other church in Cusco. But for anyone who has spent enough time in Cusco, the attention will immediately go to its impressive foundation wall. The curving walls seemingly gleam in the sun. It was almost too perfect to be real.

The former temple complex was dedicated not only to Sun God Inti, but also to the pantheon of gods of the Incan religion. The complex consisted of four structures, each dedicated to the deities of the moon, thunder, rainbows, and stars. At its height, the complex housed more than four thousand priests and was where the Incan emperor came to the most important ceremony of the year. The temple was carefully aligned about the surrounding mountains to function as a giant calendar. Being an Incan temple, Coricancha had a ceremonial stone marking the equinoxes and solstices.

Nowadays, what made Coricancha so famous was the enormous amount of gold stored within. The four chambers were clad with solid gold panels; numerous golden statues adorned the central courtyard. If the accounts of Spanish conquistadors were to be believed, the quantity and opulence were staggering. Inside the chamber dedicated to Inti, a giant golden sun disc would reflect sunlight into the space. On Solstice/Inti Raymi, only the Incan emperors were allowed inside; the sun would illuminate the disc in a way that would fully illuminate the entire chamber interior.

Hidden behind the Baroque courtyard is the original Incan temple complex.

In 1531, conquistadors made a surprise ambush in Cajamarca and captured Emperor Atahualpa. When Atahualpa realized that the Spanish had a capacious appetite for gold, he offered a large amount of gold and silver in exchange for his freedom. A convenient source of gold to source from quickly was Coricancha. For the Incas, gold held no monetary value but ritual value. The European obsession with these metals genuinely confounded the Incas. Even after receiving the ransom, the emperor was still trailed for “treason” and was subsequently sentenced to be burned at the stake. In a bid to avoid the death sentence, he converted to Catholicism. Ultimately, he was still executed by strangulation.

Shortly after the fall of Cusco, all the gold was stripped, melted, and shipped to Spain. The upper structure of the temple was demolished; the materials were used for the foundation of Cusco’s new cathedral and various palaces around town. The Spanish built an imposing Convent of Santo Domingo atop the remaining Incan foundation. It was the first Dominican convent in Peru and was completed in about eighty years. In somewhat of a poetic justice, the whole convent collapsed after the earthquake just four decades later. It took another few decades before the construction of the present-day convent began.

The precision of Incan construction at Coricancha is unlikely anything else we have seen in Peru.

The convent we see today was constructed in the Baroque style and centered around a handsome stately courtyard. As beautiful as the building is, the attraction inside is the original Incan chambers. Coricancha was the last building we visited on our trip. By then, we already knew one could judge the importance of a building by the precision of stonework. The mortarless ashlar construction here was mind-boggling. Each block was so perfectly straight that they seemed almost modern. Paradoxically, the walls here may be less intriguing than the multi-sided masonry elsewhere.

The wall construction at Coricancha may be impressive from the construction point of view, but I found myself drawn to mysterious carvings on the facade of “Room of the Stars.” I am not sure these patterns have some religious importance, but they look like alien markings. This is one of those instances where hiring a professional guide would be worth it. When we were approached by these guides outside of the ticket booth, we often declined their offers and just wanted to get inside as soon as possible. But because these guides are not allowed to solicit inside, it was often too late to hire them.

The Inca interpretation of the Milky Way.

Perhaps the most enigmatic artifact here is a golden tablet called the Golden Star Map of the Inca. This massive tablet has been a mystery for generations of archaeologists. Because of its shape, it is commonly believed to be an altar at Coricancha. The tablet shows the Southern Cross and the principal elements of Incan cosmology. Coincidentally, the configurations shown on the star map also correspond with the layouts of Coricancha. While I do not know the details of all the symbols, I did learn that the Incas believe that the celestial order is embodied in stars. The Milky Way, which guides all the Incas in the dark, was considered a physical river filled with animals they are familiar with on Earth.

Could you spot the eagle and the serpent?

To round up the visit to Coricancha, we took a stroll around the back garden. This beautiful area provided much-needed relief from the gloomy, heavy feelings we got inside the museum. The lawn is graced with animal patterns from the Milky Way mentioned above. Although the garden may not be grand by any means, it is filled with beautiful flowers and may be my favorite public space in Cusco.

Plaza de Armas

No visit to Cusco will be complete without spending some time on Plaza de Armas, the central square of Cusco. It is the most recognizable public place in Peru, without any doubt. Known as Hawkaypata in the Inca times, this square was a swamp and substantially more than its current size. Much like Tenochtitlan (modern Mexico City) or Venice, Cusco was favored by the city’s founders because of its precarious geography. The swampy terrain provided Incas with much-needed safety from rival tribes. According to common belief, the Incas transported sands from the Pacific coasts to make the place suitable for construction.

In the Incan times, the square was ringed by numerous noble mansions and palaces. Despite having Qollqanpata Palace as their official residence, individual emperors still built their own palaces here. And just like today, this was the place to be and the place to be gather and be seen. One of the most important functions here was the tribute to the Incan military. After prominent battles, the army would parade here with prisoners of war and the spoils of war. The POWs were often humiliated and even executed.

After the empire’s collapse, the square was renamed Plaza de Armas, a common name for main plazas in Spanish viceroyalty. The layout is modeled after Roman military camps and functions as a place of refuge during wartime. This was where the government handed out weapons to citizens during the siege. Of course, the Incan temples were torn down and replaced with Catholic churches. Dominating the square is a massive cathedral built with materials from Incan temples and fortresses. The sands used to drain the plaza were relocated for us for the foundation of the impressive church.

One of the most historically significant events here was the execution of Túpac Amaru II. Born José Gabriel Condorcanqui, he was an Incan chief who led the largest Andean rebellion against the Spanish Crown from 1780 to 1783. A distant descendant of the Inca royal family, he was educated by the Jesuit and fluent in Quechua, Spanish, and Latin. Over time, he grew disillusioned with the colonial rules, particularly the economic and administrative reform they put forward. Inspired by the 1609 chronicle by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, who provided a first-hand account of the final years of the Incan empire, he began to recognize the injustice done to the Incas. To celebrate his royal lineage, he took the name Túpac Amaru II after the last ruler of the Inca State.

After a physical dispute with a local governor, he gathered locals and grew to a full-blown armed insurrection. As it turned out, his wife, Micaela Bastidas, was a brilliant military strategist and even led a battalion into battle on numerous occasions. Their forces quickly took over large regions across the southern Peruvian plateau. At one point, their troops even came close to threatening Cusco. Sadly for him, they were betrayed by his lieutenants, and he was put on trial for sedition. Unsurprisingly, he was sentenced to death along with his entire family except for his 12-year-old son.

The execution of Túpac Amaru II is depicted in this painting at the Regional Historical Museum of Cusco.

His execution on Plaza de Armas on May 18, 1781, became a legend. Befittingly, this was where his ancestor, Túpac Amaru, was executed. As part of the punishment, they forced him to watch the execution of his family and followers one by one. Many had their tongues cut out, partly to silence them. I could hardly imagine the pain and cruelty of witnessing that. As the head of the uprising, Túpac was treated with a particularly gruesome sentence: quartering by horses. According to historical accounts, the effort failed because of his sturdy build. He would have to be quartered by hands and then beheaded. His body parts were then distributed to corners of the viceroyalty as a warning. His execution has been memorialized by a grand painting at the Regional Historical Museum of Cusco.

After the rebellion was suppressed less than two years after his death, the authority began cracking down on any expression of Incan cultural identity, such as traditional clothing and speaking Quechua. All mention or celebration of Incan culture and history were outlawed. It led to a widespread transformation of Peruvian society. Indigenous administrators were gradually replaced by foreigners more loyal to the crown. Although this failed rebellion led to harsher treatment of the Incan population, Túpac Amaru is an inspiration to the indigenous people for generations to come. His death inadvertently fueled the nascent indigenous nationalism.

Today’s plaza is a gentile place for locals and tourists alike. The plaza has attracted countless tourist restaurants and travel agencies over the last two decades. This is the one place you will find international franchises such as Starbucks and McDonald’s. Walking around Plaza de Armas, visitors would barely know about the Incan history and the legacy of Túpac Amaru II. For most casual observers, the most recognizable remnants of the Inas on the square would be a gilded statue of Pachacuti, the most celebrated Incan emperor. Unfortunately, I did not realize there was a plaque marking the death of Túpac Amaru II.

Sacsayhuamán

To best appreciate the grandeur of Inca Cusco, head to the Fortress of Sacsayhuamán, the head of the metaphorical puma. Located atop a steep hill northwest of the city, Sacsayhuamán was both a military fortress and a religious complex. I later asked Jhon, our Inca Trail guide, about his recommended 1-day itinerary for Cusco. His top three spots in Cusco are Sacsayhuamán, Plaza de Armas, and Mercado Central de San Pedro. Sacsayhuamán is the most important Inca site in Peru and the spiritual center of Cusco.

This vast complex we see today was constructed in the 15th century during the zenith of the Inca’s political powers. Because of its proximity to Cusco, Spaniards cannibalized large parts of the fortress for the urban expansion of colonial Cusco. Most archaeologists believe only forty percent of Sacsayhuamán survived. Even so, it is still majestic and awe-inspiring. The most impressive feature is the three-tiered terrace, composed of three ribbons of zigzag dry stone walls. They are unlike any other Inca sites we visited in Peru. According to some sources, the zigzag pattern is supposed to represent the teeth of a puma. The late afternoon sun creates a stunning shadow effect.

From up close, we could better appreciate the true majesty of Incan construction and engineering. The scale of these stone blocks is mind-blowing. As many as twenty thousand workers were drafted for its construction. The jigsaw puzzle-like wall construction at Sacsayhuamán is particularly striking; these boulders seem to “puff up” like pieces of resting bread dough. I can’t help touching them and feeling how tight the seams are. Since we visited the “twelve-sided stone” earlier, we started counting the sides of Incan dry stones at other Inca sites. Sure enough, the most-sided stone we found here was eleventh-sided.

As impressive as the zigzag terraces are, the most significant section is at the top of the ramparts. It was here where the Incas had their last stance against the conquistadors in the Battle of Sacsayhuamán in 1536. A massive round stone tower once stood here and is considered the heart of Sacsayhuamán. Named Muyuq Marka, this former conical tower was the temple dedicated to the sun god, Inti. Unsurprisingly, the tower’s celestial alignment was carefully laid out. Because Spaniards tore down the Muyuq Marka immediately after the conquest, archaeologists could only deduce the size and construction method of the tower from the foundation.

The massive parade ground of Sacsayhuamán.

Curiously, it had three concentric walls and a water fountain in the center. It is a shame that we may never know how this impressive complex looked in its golden age. Although the above-ground structures are gone, the upper terrace offers breathtaking views of Cusco and the surrounding valley. We could see how the uncontrolled urban sprawl enveloped the Incan and colonial Cusco. It would be wonderful if there were a timelapse video of this view from the Inca times. I could only imagine what an Inca would say if they were standing at this spot today. Conversely, we would probably feel the same the other way around.

Although the Catholic Church and Spain worked hard to erase any trace of the Incan religion, the spirits of the Incas persist to this day. On the winter solstice (24th of June) each year, the citizens of Cusco gather here for the annual Inti Raymi festival. On this day, locals, often in flamboyant Incan costumes, paraded from the city toward Sacsayhuamán. The festival includes traditional dances, flag displays, music, and reenactment of the sacrificial rites to the sun god, Inti. It has since been the most popular annual event for locals and tourists. While the population is overwhelmingly Catholic, the Incan identity still runs deep here.

The site Sacsayhuamán is truly massive and is covered under the Cusco Tourist Ticket. It is tough to grasp the beauty of this place in just an hour or two. Hiring one of the numerous licensed guides to bring the site back to life may be worthwhile. Although everyone seemed to make a beeline to the terraced fortress, my favorite part of the site was Rodadero Slides, a short walk from the Inca parade ground in front of the zigzag walls. The enormous geological formation of diorite rock is striking and has several naturally formed slides.

These peculiarly natural slides are now a playground for kids or adventurous adults. Throughout the centuries, the surfaces of these slides have been polished by countless children. However, one obvious question is whether the Incas used them as a slide for fun like we do today. According to an account of Garcilaso, who is part Spanish and Incan, he and many other Incan children also used these rock formations for recreation. This may be the oldest amusement park in Peru. I was very tempted to give it a try myself. But since I had this pair of hiking pants that I planned on wearing on the Inca Trail. I certainly did not want to rip them by accident. But it was still pure joy seeing other visitors sliding down the rocks.

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The City of Puma

Coricancha

Plaza de Armas

Sacsayhuamán

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