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Sunday, 24 January 2016

Thursday 21 January

Cusco

This morning we walked a little around town to visit some older sites. The first was the Dominican church, which had been built on Incan ruins (which weren’t ruins at the time it was built!). The Spanish destroyed much of the Incan buildings, but for some reason kept a couple of rooms, for their own use, but concealing them by removing parts of walls and putting in arches, and plastering and painting frescoes/murals on them. The people of Cusco had no idea this was there, until the earthquake of 1950 which partly knocked down walls. The discovery was a shock to them, and the area has been restored and of course is raking in money for the Dominicans as a tourist venture!! You can take photos of the ruins inside the building, but not of religious icons and paintings. It was fascinating to see, and the area has been treated very respectfully.


Dominican wall on left and Incan wall on right

Incan wall broken open to put in arches



Where a Spanish Dominican arch used to be.
The colonial Spanish painted murals over the Incan walls to conceal them. The room was used as Chapter House until the 1950s when it was restored after the earthquake.
Incan foundations to the Dominican Church
Incan terraces
The other Incan room
Incan symmetry
Meeting of Incan and Spanish architecture
Then we went by bus to the ruins of Saqsaywaman (pronounced ’sac-say-wayman’, or ‘sexy woman' to remind us!). This is a large site, foundations and part-walls only, built in a zigzag fashion, with the zigs and zags being symmetrical when viewed from the air. HUGE rocks as the foundation, curved faces and many angles, to absorb shocks from earthquakes (the ancients knew about this!). Fascinating. Unfortunately time didn’t allow for us to explore the site fully – one of the drawbacks of being on organised tours.


some foundation stones are huge, to stabilise the wall in times of earthquake (the Incans knew of this!)



no two stones are the same
Atop the hill overlooking the city is a statue of Jesus, donated to the city in the 1940s by Christian Palestinians. It is well lit at night and stands out.


Back into the city to visit the Catholic cathedral (Peru is largely Catholic, very much so). No photos allowed – the interior was VERY decorated with gold and silver, some of it straight metal and other pats carved wood which has been gilded with gold or silver leaf. Catholic religious icons EVERYWHERE – no empty spaces. Very Baroque. Very beautiful. No photos allowed however.



After lunch we were free to do our own thing, so we walked with a Newcastle couple in their early 70s. Lesley bought another silver necklace, and a lovely doll for Harriet. Later we went to a factory of authentic craftwork – alpaca knits, woven items etc. This place is set up to educate visitors on the real deal, and how to avoid fakes, and also to assist the craftspeople by selling their wares for them. A win-win situation all round. We bought an alpaca jumper each, and some placemats. We will have to send some stuff home – no room in the bags!!

This evening we went out to dinner as part of our trip. Gastronomically beautiful, of Peruvian food. We are eating a little too well and will have to cut back!

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