Cusco city

Index

Preface and General Information

Qosqo in History

The Tawantinsuyo

The Inka

Inkan Religion

General and City Planning

Materials and Lithic Technology

Inkan Architecture

Agriculture

Coca Leaves

Andean Camelids

Andean Condor

Inkan City of Qosqo

Present-day FestivitiesThe Cathedral

Saint Blaise Church

Convent of Our Lady of Mercy

La Compania de Jesus Church

Saint Francis Convent

Monastery of Saint Catherine

Qorikancha

Saqsaywaman

Pisaq

Ollantaytambo

Chinchero

Maras, Moray, Pichingoto

Tipon, Pikillaqta, Andahuaylillas

MachupicchuInka Trail

Manu National Reserve

Vocabulary

PREFACE

Qosqo, the most important pre-Columbian metropolis in the American Continent, is heir of a cultural tradition developed all over the Peruvian territory since 18 thousand years B.C. It is a living museum where it is still possible to perceive grandeur of remote epochs. A total description or interpretation of Qosqo would bea gigantic work requiring thousands of books. This "Navel of the World" has developed one of the most advanced old civilizations on the earth. The name "Qosqo" is used the way our authorities and our consciences state it; I believe that it is a moral duty of every son of this sacred land to recover its past.
The present work is an attempt to summarize what is outstanding in the city and itsregion, trying to present information that is precise or at least as close as possible to historic and present truth, and unspoiled from prior prejudices and knowledge that normally mark in our lives. Having been born and lived my whole life in this Holy City gives enormous value for this purpose; its air is poor in oxygen but is pure and invigorating, intermingled with glory, passion, suffering anddiscouragement. I feel myself as a child of the "Pachamama", engendered by the sacred "Willkamayu" that drags the limpid water from thaws of imposing glaciers like the "Apu Ausangate" that forever protects the city and its children.
This is also an attempt to swear allegiance to the Andean Man, the heir of a great past and creator of peculiar culture. Until now some social segments unjustly,prejudiced and contemptuously call the Andean Man as "Indian"; they fail to recognize that this disdained race forged modern Peru. Peru is complex and although many in this country of "Indians", "Cholos" and "Mestizos" boast themselves having "blue blood", what is great in this land is a product of the creative ability of the same Andean Man. It is contradictory that while by the beginning of the XXIcentury thousands of intelligent and cultured people of the planet admire fervently works of Ancient Peru, but human dignity is denied to the heirs of their authors.
Information listed in the present work is not new and has a strong endorsement in assimilated academic subjects in the Tourism and Anthropology faculties of the three centuries old San Antonio Abad National University of Qosqo. Iremember my professors with special affection and gratitude. Special mention is made to doctors Victor Angles, Manuel Chavez, Luis Barreda, Jorge Flores, Demetrio Roca, Justo Paucar, Efrain Bellido and many other illustrious scholars that in our formation taught us to love Qosqo with passion and nourish ourselves with its glorious past. Gathering experience as a full time professional local tour guidefor a decade was also a great help. I also express my gratitude to the visitors arriving to these lands because their interests make present-day Peruvians become more aware and preoccupied about our legacy. I hope that their doubts and questions will be answered by this book.
"Runa Simi" or "Quechua" is the language of Inkas; it originally was non-written but has now a consistent modern...