Qoricancha Sun Temple, San Blas

September 15, Sunday Cuzco • Qoricancha Sun Temple • San Blas walking tour

Destination: Cuzco

Accommodations: JOSE ANTONIO CUSCO HOTEL

Activity Note: We will spend the day at elevations above 11,000 feet.

We recommend staying hydrated while at high altitude.

After breakfast we went on a walk to the Qoricancha Sun Temple, (Coricancha) which was a ceremonial structure during the Inca era. It was the religious and sacred place where appreciation was shown for Inti, the Inca Sun God. It was one of the most sacred buildings of the Inca Empire. People from all over the Empire gathered at this temple to worship and pay tribute to their gods, but the interior of the enclosure was reserved for the most important personalities of the time. Historical records note that its walls were once covered with 700 sheets of gold that was studded with emeralds and turquoise. When the sunlight streamed through the windows, the reflection off the precious metals was blinding. Most of the temple was destroyed after the 16th-century war with the Spanish conquistadors because they took the stones to build their own churches and homes.

Much of its stonework was used as the foundation for the seventeenth-century Santo Domingo Convent which was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1650 destroyed the first one.

The masonry was made from stones that were similar in appearance and they did not use any stones with an imperfection or break. It’s amazing how they constructed the temple, even knowing to tilt the inner walls to be stronger if an earthquake hit. There is one corner that is constructed by one huge stone with I think 7 angles. You have to wonder… How did they do it???

There was no mortar used to put the stones together but instead, a sort of bitumen with which they used to affix the stones. The stones themselves are so well worked that no joining or cement can be seen in the original walls. When parts of the temple had to be restored by archeologists, you can see the cement that they put in between the stones to repair them. The original stones put together by the Incas is seamless.

We were able to stand inside one of the rooms that was original to the temple and in another room we looked through a trapezoid window that gave views through other rooms. It was truly amazing to see the parts of the temple that are still standing. Some folks laugh and say that aliens must have come down to build the temple since how did the Incas have the knowledge to build something so precise without the tools that we have today. There are some stones that were found that the archeologists still don’t know what part of the temple they were from.

We left the temple and walked through the San Blas neighborhood and saw many of the architectural relics that tell the history of the Cusco area. We once again arrived at the Plaza de Armas, that we visited last night.

We walked back to the hotel and had a delicious light lunch and then got ready for our flights that will leave very early tomorrow – first to Lima and then to Quito, Ecuador.

At 6 pm we had a recap of our wonderful time with Patty and drank Pisco to celebrate our adventures together. Then it was off for the farewell dinner and back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep for our 3 am wake up call.

The jewelry store in the hotel was open when we returned and many of us bought a piece of jewelry. I bought a beautiful silver slide with inlay of different stones. It is all handmade.

The temple

Looking through the trapezoid window

Original room of the temple. How did they make the blocks so precise?

Original artwork

The most important part of the temple where a gold medallion was placed to catch the sun.

It is believed that protrusions were put in this area so that the sun would cast different angular shadows along the wall, changing in length as the sun moved across the sky. You can see the beautiful shadows in this picture.

Walking through the streets of Cusco

A very old wooden balcony still standing

An original stone block entryway. The door however is not original. The snakes and the emblem above the door signify someone of great importance lived there.