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.
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Dominican wall on left and Incan wall on right |
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Incan wall broken open to put in arches |
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Where a Spanish Dominican arch used to be. |
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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. |
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Incan foundations to the Dominican Church |
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Incan terraces |
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The other Incan room |
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Incan symmetry |
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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.
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some foundation stones are huge, to stabilise the wall in times of earthquake (the Incans knew of this!) |
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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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