Day 10 - Cusco

Today we got to sleep in! As usual, I was awake at 6:00am, so I got up and had a cappuccino in the courtyard of the hotel. It was a bit chilly, so I was glad for the poncho I had purchased as a souvenir . It kept me very warm! The hotel was originally the Seminary of San Antonio Abad. It was built on the foundations of Amaru Qhala’s Inca palace. It is now a five star hotel. It has multiple courtyards where you can hear the sound of singing monks piped in.

After breakfast, we toured the old part of Cusco. We started with the Convent of Santo Domingo. As with most of the buildings here, it was built not he foundations of the “Inti concha”, the Inca Temple of the Sun. This was one of the most sacred and respected building of the Inca Empire. The Catholic temple had been built over it to demonstrate the destruction and annulment of the ancient culture.

Inca and colonial architecture fused together.

However, the temple was not totally destroyed, many parts were left intact and the church was built around it (with the exception of the Sun Temple). It is very interesting to see these two architectures fused together. Many local earthquakes destroyed the colonial buildings and churches, but the Inca foundations remained intact. A testimony to the craftsmanship if the Incas.

Example of Inca engineering. Another block would be carved to fit into this block. This is how these Inca buildings survive earthquakes with no damage.

Cusco was the Inca Empire’s former capital and the continent’s oldest continuously inhabited city, Cuzco bears the marks of its mixed Spanish-Inca heritage. In this archaeological hub of the Americas, colonial and modern buildings incorporate Incan walls, arches, and doorways.

Then we went to the Bacillica De La Caterdral. This is the main Catholic temple in the city of Cusco and is the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Cusco. It was built on the foundations of the palace of the eighth Inca king. What makes this site interesting is the artwork.

The Spanish hired Peruvian painter Marcos Zapata to recreate classic Christian paintings for the church. One of his most famous works is a recreation of the Last Supper. He combined Christian stories with indigenous culture onto his art. In the Last Supper he incorporated Andean foods such as cuy (guinea pig) and Chicha, a fermented corn drink in the place of the wine. He also put the face of Francisco Pizzaro, the Spanish conquistador that defeated the Incas on Judas.

Peruvian “Last Supper” by Marcos Zapata.

There is also a cross with a black Jesus on it. It was not originally black, but brown like the native people. It was covered in Llama skin to give this color and texture. It turned black over time due to the candles burned around it. In 1650 a strong earthquake hit the city. Fearing the worst, this cross was removed from the church to prevent it from being crushed if the building were to collapse. As soon as the Jesus cross was taken to the street, the earth stopped trembling. From this day forward, the figure is known as Lord of the Earthquakes and has developed a cult following. Every week, the clothing on the figure is changed and new human hair is placed on the figure. Locals volunteer to make the clothing, so none of it is used twice. Currently there is a wait of two years to reserve a week to make clothing for it.

Black Jesus, Lord of the Earthquake’s.

For lunch, our tour guide took us to a local restaurant called Pachapapa. Here they serve native foods eaten by the Incas for over 600 years. One of these dished is cuy, known in America as guinea pig. We were able to sample the cuy. It tasted a bit like duck.

Pachapapa Restaurant. Traditional Inca foods.

Best cuy (guinea pig) in town!

We had the afternoon to wander the city on our own and check out the local shops. I was able to pick up some Mara’s Salt from the salt mine we had seen on our bus ride.

Mara’s Salt mine.

We came across a Pisco bar where you could try different piscos as well as have a demonstration on how to make a pisco sour. We simply enjoyed the pisco sours and took in the ambiance.

Pisco bar.

Sandy, Amy and myself enjoying a great pisco sour.

We ran into our tour guide and he gave us a recommendation for dinner. Dinner was not included with the tour tonight, so we were on our own. We went to a small local restaurant called Sagrado. It was not one if the fancy restaurants, but the food was incredible. I had the blue alpaca. It was an alpaca steak with blue cheese melted on top of it. It was a different experience from the alpaca sample we had with dinner the night before. I also tried an Andean gin and tonic. The gin is made locally and comes in different flavors. I had the original clear gin. It was served in a proper gin glass (see my blog on the Cotswolds) and was garnished with a cinnamon stick, star anise, cucumber and fennel leafs. It was very good. I am going to try to get some at the airport in Duty Free when we leave Peru.

Sagrado Restaurant

Blue Alpaca dinner.

Andean Gin and Tonic.

We returned to our hotel and enjoyed a nice glass of wine in the vaulted lounge where a nice fire was going. A perfect ending to a perfect day.