Cusco · Peru Capital
In the destination Cusco, the Vale Sagrado and Machu Picchu.
In the photo: Plaza de Armas del Cusco.
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
The city
Ancient capital of the Incas, Cusco sits at about 3,400 metres in an Andean valley. Colonial churches and manor houses were built on top of Inca stone walls, and the historic centre, a World Heritage site, is walked from the Plaza de Armas: Catedral, Qorikancha, San Blas, the Mercado de San Pedro and, above, Sacsayhuamán. It is the base for the Vale Sagrado, for Machu Picchu and for day trips into the mountains.
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The local experience
The old Huacaypata of the Incas, the heart of Cusco, with the Catedral, the iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús and manor houses with arcades and wooden balconies around it, and the mountains in the background.
Cathedral built from 1560 to the mid-17th century on top of an Inca palace, with hundreds of paintings of the Cusco school, the Last Supper featuring a cuy on the plate, and the Christ of the Tremors.
The Inca Temple of the Sun, once covered in gold during the empire, with fitted stone walls beneath the Dominican convent of Santo Domingo. It has terraced gardens and a site museum.
The Inca fortress high above Cusco, at about 3,700 m, with three zigzag walls of stones weighing over 100 tons fitted without mortar and offering a view over the entire city.
The artisan neighborhood of Cusco, on stone slopes above the Plaza de Armas, with workshops, the church of San Blas and its carved cedar pulpit, and the street Hatun Rumiyoq with the famous 12-angle stone.
The central market of Cusco, under an iron structure from the early 20th century, with stalls selling fruits, potatoes, cheeses, breads, juices and Andean cooked lunches.
The MAP, in a colonial mansion on the Plazoleta de las Nazarenas, displays about 450 selected pieces from the Museo Larco collection: ceramics, gold, silver and wood from cultures spanning more than three millennia.
The Montanha Colorida, at 5,036 m, with bands of red, yellow and green minerals, about a 3-hour drive from Cusco. The day tour includes a high-altitude hike.
Turquoise-water lagoon at about 4,200 m, at the foot of the Humantay snow peak, in the Vilcabamba range. The day tour leaves Cusco at dawn and includes a hike of about 1½ hours.
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