Saturday, 13 September 2014
I decided to stay one more day in Cusco because I really like this place, and also because there is just too many things to see here that one day is not enough at all. For this, I had to contact my agent in Lima to see whether it is possible to change my bus ticket from today evening to tomorrow evening. He informed me that I had to go to the bus company personally to change my ticket. I took a cab to the bus company and back, and it was no problem. I informed the agent accordingly and it's done!
In the afternoon I did a city tour around Cusco, where we stopped at 6 places. The first was the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin, also known as the Cusco Cathedral which is still an active church today. Mass is in the morning and tourism in the afternoon. It was actually an Inca temple for the God Wira Kocha, but when the Spanish came they broke it down and built the Cathedral. The Cathedral was completed in 1694, and took 95 years to complete. There are some important artefacts in the Cathedral, including the altar which is made of cedar wood and plated in 22 carat gold, the choir room which has 2 original organs that are still working and are still used during mass, the sacristy which is a room full of paintings of all the bishops in Cusco, and the statue of the Black Christ, who is the patron saint of Cusco and Lord of the Earthquakes.
There are also 2 impressive churches nearby the Cathedral, all around the plaza de armas, which is the Iglesia del Triunfur and the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus. I did not go into these churches which are all still active.
The second place we went to was Qorikancha, also known as Inti Kancha or Inti Wasi, an Inca temple dedicated to the sun god Inti. It was one of the most important Inca temples built in the centre of Cusco. The Spanish colonists built the Convent and Church of Santo Domingo on the site, demolishing the temple and using its foundations for the church. Major earthquakes severely damaged the church, but the Inca stone walls still stand due to their sophisticated stone masonry. Some of these walls still remain and can be seen, and we again see the trapezoidal mirrors, and huge, tightly interlocking blocks of stones are built so precisely together it looks as if machinery was used but in actual fact it was all built by hand.
I decided to stay one more day in Cusco because I really like this place, and also because there is just too many things to see here that one day is not enough at all. For this, I had to contact my agent in Lima to see whether it is possible to change my bus ticket from today evening to tomorrow evening. He informed me that I had to go to the bus company personally to change my ticket. I took a cab to the bus company and back, and it was no problem. I informed the agent accordingly and it's done!
In the afternoon I did a city tour around Cusco, where we stopped at 6 places. The first was the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin, also known as the Cusco Cathedral which is still an active church today. Mass is in the morning and tourism in the afternoon. It was actually an Inca temple for the God Wira Kocha, but when the Spanish came they broke it down and built the Cathedral. The Cathedral was completed in 1694, and took 95 years to complete. There are some important artefacts in the Cathedral, including the altar which is made of cedar wood and plated in 22 carat gold, the choir room which has 2 original organs that are still working and are still used during mass, the sacristy which is a room full of paintings of all the bishops in Cusco, and the statue of the Black Christ, who is the patron saint of Cusco and Lord of the Earthquakes.
There are also 2 impressive churches nearby the Cathedral, all around the plaza de armas, which is the Iglesia del Triunfur and the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus. I did not go into these churches which are all still active.
The second place we went to was Qorikancha, also known as Inti Kancha or Inti Wasi, an Inca temple dedicated to the sun god Inti. It was one of the most important Inca temples built in the centre of Cusco. The Spanish colonists built the Convent and Church of Santo Domingo on the site, demolishing the temple and using its foundations for the church. Major earthquakes severely damaged the church, but the Inca stone walls still stand due to their sophisticated stone masonry. Some of these walls still remain and can be seen, and we again see the trapezoidal mirrors, and huge, tightly interlocking blocks of stones are built so precisely together it looks as if machinery was used but in actual fact it was all built by hand.
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