Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [178]
Central Cuzco
PLAZA DE ARMAS
In Inca times, the plaza, called Huacaypata or Aucaypata, was the heart of the Inca capital. Today it’s the nerve center of the modern city. Two flags usually fly here – the red and white Peruvian flag and the rainbow-colored flag of Tahuantinsuyo, representing the four quarters of the Inca empire. (Foreigners often mistake the latter for an international gay-pride banner, to which it bears a remarkable resemblance. Bringing this up is an excellent way to make normally easygoing cuzqueños lose their cool.)
Colonial arcades surround the plaza, which in ancient times was twice as large as it is today, also encompassing the area now called the Plaza Regocijo. On the plaza’s northeastern side is the imposing cathedral, fronted by a large flight of stairs and flanked by the churches of Jesús María and El Triunfo. On the southeastern side is the strikingly ornate church of La Compañía de Jesús. The quiet pedestrian alleyway of Loreto, which has Inca walls, is a historic means of access to the plaza.
It’s worth visiting the plaza at least twice – by day and by night – as it takes on a strikingly different look after dark, all lit up and even prettier.
LA CATEDRAL
Started in 1559 and taking almost a hundred years to build, the cathedral (Plaza de Armas; admission S25 or with boleto religioso; 10am-5:45pm) squats on the site of Viracocha Inca’s palace and was built using blocks pilfered from the nearby Inca site of Sacsaywamán. The cathedral is joined with Iglesia del Triunfo (1536) to its right and Iglesia de Jesús María (1733) to the left. El Triunfo, Cuzco’s oldest church, houses a vault containing the remains of the famous Inca chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega, who was born in Cuzco in 1539 and died in Córdoba, Spain, in 1616. His remains were returned in 1978 by King Juan Carlos of Spain. (For more on Garcilaso de la Vega, Click here.)
The cathedral is one of the city’s greatest repositories of colonial art, especially for works from the escuela cuzqueña (Cuzco school), noted for its decorative combination of 17th-century European devotional painting styles with the color palette and iconography of indigenous Andean artists. A classic example is the frequent portrayal of the Virgin Mary wearing a mountain-shaped skirt with a river running around its hem, identifying her with Pachamama (Mother Earth). One of the most famous paintings of the escuela cuzqueña is The Last Supper by Quechua artist Marcos Zapata, which is found in the northeast corner of the cathedral. It depicts one of the most solemn occasions in the Christian faith, but graces it with a small feast of Andean ceremonial food; look for the plump and juicy-looking roast cuy (guinea pig) stealing the show with its feet held plaintively in the air.
Also look for the oldest surviving painting in Cuzco, showing the entire city during the great earthquake of 1650. The inhabitants can be seen parading around the plaza with a crucifix, praying for the earthquake to stop, which miraculously it did. This precious crucifix, called El Señor de los Temblores (The Lord of the Earthquakes), can still be seen in the alcove to the right of the door leading into El Triunfo. Every year on Holy Monday, the Señor is taken out on parade and devotees throw ñucchu flowers at him – these resemble droplets of blood and represent the wounds of his crucifixion. The flowers leave a sticky residue, to which the smoke of the countless votive candles lit beneath him sticks: this is why he’s now black. Legend has it that under his skirt, he’s still as lily white as the day he was made.
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