We flew from Huancayo back to Lima and then from Lima to Cusco. In the winter Lima is perpetually overcast as you can see in the first photo. Even though it doesn't rain, its location on the coast and being next to the mountains traps the moisture in the form of clouds over the city. We had a long layover in Lima before flying to Cusco, the capital city of the ancient Inca Empire.
Since I enjoying learning about the places I visit and I downloaded several Wikipedia articles on the whole trip. Cusco is a really cool city. It's become a little touristy since it's the main launchpad for the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu, but still retains a bunch of its history. It's a really cool combination of modern dining and convenience (great restaurants, Starbucks, Irish Pubs), Spanish colonization and influence (cathedrals, Catholicism) and pre-Columbian American history (Inca). It's clean, safe and there is a lot to see and do.
It'll be pretty hard to remember everything about Cusco. We stayed at the Sonesta Hotel. It was a very nice place and had a great breakfast. I think it was about a 10 minute walk from the main town square, the Plaza de Armas. The second picture is the view of the main street in town right outside of our hotel. There was a little park with a monument and then some art and a water feature that is not shown but to the right of what's pictured. Google Maps says it's a dog park, but I'm not convinced.
I took the next shot a couple of blocks up the street headed towards the main plaza. It's a good example of some of the local art. The gold disk represents the sun, or more specifically, Inti, the sun god. Inti was the patron god that the Inca worshiped and built many altars, cities, festivals and other cultural objects in reference and in reverence to their sun god. I learned something on the trip related to this area of the world that I did not know before. If you click on the Inti hyperlink above, you'll see what I'm talking about. The current flags of Argentina and Uruguay (and an old version of the Peruvian flag) feature a similar sun. Although it's popularly known to represent the independence from Spain, it still shares it's origin with past cultural and religious significance to Inti. Although I am only basing this off of my examination of the photo, it appears to be telling a brief history from left to right of the Inca. The building of the empire and major cities to a period of prosperity, followed by the Spanish conquest.
These next pictures are of the main plaza, Plaza de Armas. This part I stole from the internet, but it's a good summary of the area. In Inca times, the plaza, called Huacaypata or Aucaypata, was the heart of the capital. Today it’s the nerve center of the modern city. Two flags usually fly here – the red-and-white Peruvian flag and the rainbow-colored flag of Tahuantinsuyo. Easily mistaken for an international gay-pride banner, it represents the four quarters of the Inca empire.
Colonial arcades surround the plaza, which in ancient times was twice as large, also encompassing the area now called the Plaza Regocijo. On the plaza’s northeastern side is the imposing cathedral, fronted by a large flight of stairs and flanked by the churches of Jesús María and El Triunfo. On the southeastern side is the strikingly ornate church of La Compañía de Jesús. The quiet pedestrian alleyway of Loreto, which has Inca walls, is a historic means of access to the plaza.
Couple of interesting points about this area. First, a lot of the Spanish Catholic buildings (the cathedrals, a monastery, etc.) sit on top of old Inca stone foundations that were previously used by the Incas to practice their religion. In other words, when the Spanish conquered this area they intentionally tore down the pagan places of worship and built their Catholic equivalents on the same spot. This served many purposes, but obviously the intent was to snuff out the pagan worship practices and replace them with righteous ones. If you look closely at some of the buildings from the side you can see the Inca stone work foundations.
Second, there is a very famous painting of the Last Supper behind the green doors pictured below. Look for Stacey on the steps. The painting depicts Jesus and the 12 disciples sitting around the table for the Last Supper, about to dine on a local Peruvian delicacy called "Cuy". Cuy can be found at your local pet store under the name "guinea pig". We didn't get to try Cuy while we were in Peru, but it's readily available. The artist was a local Quechua painter who had been trained in the Spanish/European ways of painting. The Spanish also used this training as a way to convert the local to Catholicism. The local artist was very talented, and sublimely added a local spin on this famous scene.
In the middle of the square is a statue that sits on top of a water fountain. This is a representation of the Inca. Side note: back in ancient times the word Inca was used only to describe THE Inca, Sapa Inca, or king of the empire. The dynasty was supposedly founded by Manco Cápac, considered the son of the sun god Inti. In other words, the holder of this hereditary throne was considered to be part king, part god. This statue is supposedly pointing in the direction of the ancient ruins we visited the next day, Sacsayhuaman. The empire was known Tahuantinsuyo (literally means the four corners of the empire, they all meet in Cusco). However, over time, the entire kingdom and people became to be known as "Incas".
Overlooking the plaza was a large statue of Jesus. It reminded me of Christ the Redeemer in Rio, but on a much smaller scale. Just over that hill and to the left is the location of the closest Inca ruins, Sacsayhuaman (I mentioned this above). We would see that as well as another archaeological site the next day.
The sun began to set as we were walking back to our hotel from the plaza. I was able to capture some of the quaint buildings and cobblestone roads on the way back. The lighting in the last picture was perfect. I was able to capture all of the buildings, the sky, the sunset, and the mountains in one shot. I hope you like it...it's one my favorites of Cusco.
