Cusco, ancient capital of the Inca empire

Once the capital of the Inca empire, Cusco is a beautiful archeological city. Although most of the gold was stolen and melted by the Spaniards to use as money and many Inca buildings were demolished for the construction of churches, we can still see remains of massive Inca walls, the cobblestones feels as if it hasn't moved an inch and churches show a mix of Spanish and Inca culture.

Plaza de Armas




 We enjoyed the on-going festivities around the center of the city on the Plaza de Armas. Indeed, we were in town a week before Inti Raymi, the festival of the Sun, and had the chance to see traditional dancers and parades. The dancers were dressed in traditional colourful costumes from different regions of the province of Cusco. The dances varied from a simple march to a complex hunting dance. While walking around the city, we also encountered random religious processions. In one street, we would see the statue of the Virgen Mary with its own crowd and music, and a few blocks further the statue of a saint with its own party, and so on.

The charm of Cusco is in the multiple narrow cobblestone streets built on the hillside overlooking the city and the churches which often dominate peacefull squares. The artistic neighbourhood of San Blas was one of our favourite for its great museums and nice restaurants. The Museum de Arte Precolombino introduced us to artifacts from various Peruvians cultures dating as back as 500 BC. It is in this barrio that we enjoyed neo-Peruvian cuisine tasting only a few of the 4000 varieties of potatoes.

Wooden Inca statue in the PreColumbian Museum
 
Typical Plazoleta in San Blas

Cusco is the most visited city in South America and it can be very touristic, but it is one of those towns that you need to see such as Luang Prabang and Hoi An because it truly is beautiful.