|
CUZCO TRAVEL GUIDE
Location:
Andean Area in the south of Peru, 11,151 feet (3,399 m.) above sea level.
Distances:
From Lima 724 miles (1,165
Km) (by Nazca)
From Arequipa 388 miles (625
Km)
From Puno: 241 miles (389
Km)
From Puerto
Maldonado (Tambopata): 331.25 miles (530 Km)
Population:
291,000 inhabitants |
|
About Cuzco
The origins of Cuzco get lost in the night of times.
Archaeological excavations made us know that primitive residents inhabited the
valley of Cuzco (except for its bottom, then marshy) near three millenniums ago.
Toward the XII century, Manco Cápac and his sister-wife
Mama Ocllo emerged from the waters of the Titicaca Lake, semi Gods daughter and
son of Inti (the god Sun), with the mission of the foundation of a new Kingdom
that would improve the conditions of life of the towns. Manco Cápac and Mama
Ocllo would have to walk until finding a place in the earth where the great gold
scepter that Manco Cápac had would submerge, they walked to the north and they
arrived to Pacárec Tampu (Pacaritambo) where rested in a small cave; to the dawn
they continued to the north arriving to the hill Huanacaure and there the
scepter submerged, and there he founded the city of Cuzco (Quechua Language: the
navel of the world).
Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo left in people's search, and
formed the Hanan Cuzco. They taught them how to work the earth and how to sow;
they made and used agricultural tools, artificial irrigation systems, to build
and to live in towns.
Inhabitants of other districts arrived when got informed
of the events, creating this way the Tahuantisuyo, the great empire of the
Incas, which limits, after 14 successors of real lineage, reached Colombia by
the north, and northern Chile and Argentina by the south; as capital Cuzco
reached its maximum splendor.
It is known little more than names and legends from the
first Incas kings, from Pachacútec (1448-1471) more information has gotten, the
great conqueror who transformed Cuzco, reconstructing it. The Spaniards arrived
and occupied the city in 1533, when Huáscar (Pachacútec's grandson) was the Inca
king.
In this time Cuzco was a city of admirable architecture
made in stone with wide plazas, big temples and palaces decorated with abundant
gold pieces. Many of these colossal constructions have been built for the
eternity.
The Spanish Cuzco has like base the foundations of the
Inca walls and the lines of its streets, numerous buildings and churches were
built, and a flourishing art school was founded (XVII century - XVIII),
represented by numerous painters and authors (paintings of the "Escuela Cusqueña",
pulpit of San Blas, Custody of the Cathedral and the Iglesia de la Merced, etc.)
The cultural coalition Andean-Hispanic, has determined
very special characteristics in its architecture and population, city of
incomparable beauty in the world, which conserves with pride their customs and
traditions, at the same time progressively is incorporated to the modernity. To
this is added the privileged geographical scenery, of beautiful landscapes, in
which has been developed.
Cuzco is the most visited tourist destination in Peru, and
the wealthy attractiveness in the city and its areas around, as well as "Ciudad
Perdida de los Incas" (Lost City of the Incas), Machu Picchu, transforms it
into one of the main tourist attractiveness of the world, offering an excellent
quality of tourist services.
Visiting Cuzco
Also called Cusco or Qosqo
|
|
Historical Center of Cuzco: To go over the historical center of Cuzco, is
walking by the city that was traced and designed by the Incas, it is like going
for a walk by colonial buildings built on the base of the old real palaces of
the Incas, is the coalition of two architectural styles that make it unique in
the world, it is the opportunity to appreciate architectural and art jewels that
contain their centennial or millennial walls. Museums, churches, Inca places,
popular markets, handcrafts artisans, San Blas, and more.
Archaeological Park of Sacsayhuaman: 4 Km north of Cuzco. It embraces 3,000
hectares approximately, where a rich Andean flora and extraordinary Inca and
Pre-Inca archaeological monuments as Sacsayhuaman, Kencco (or Qenqo), Puca
Pucará and Tambomachay.
Valle Sagrado de los Incas (The
Sacred Valley of the Incas): 15 Km north of Cuzco. Called this way to the
end of the extensive valley of Urubamba, where the agricultural cattlemen and
beautiful towns were concentrated since Inca times. The valley is characterized
to have very special conditions, as an excellent climate, very fertile lands and
the waters of the sacred river of the Inca, Valle Sagrado is embraced between
the towns of Písac and Ollantaytambo, it has wonderful landscapes where its
inhabitants, native of the Quechua ethnic, conserve many customs and ancestral
rites.
Around
Cuzco: You can visit amazing scenarios near to Cuzco city, archaeological
places, beautiful towns and nature landscapes, as Chinchero, Maras, Moray, Tipon,
Andahuaylillas, Raqchi, enjoy their traditions and folklore.
Machu Picchu: Is a mystical
place, a monument to divinity, where people can feel that they are a creation of
God. The high sense of spirituality that inhabits this place seems to transport
its visitors to a place where everything "in an unimaginable way" is possible.
It is a place where strange forces of nature allow the individuals to reach an
incomparable cosmic state, a state that can only be experimented in Machu
Picchu. It is one of the most popular archaeological sites of the world, and
therefore, the most visited attraction in Peru.
Inca Trail:
Part of the 23,000 kilometers (approximately 14,000 miles) of roads built by the
Incas in South America, this is Peru's most famous trekking route and possibly
one of the most spectacular in the Americas. Every year; some 25,000 hikers from
around the world walk along the extraordinary 43 kilometers of this stone-paved
road built by the Incas leading to the unassailable citadel of Machu Picchu
located in the depth of the Cuzco jungle.
Cuzco is the most visited tourist
destination in Peru, and the wealthy attractiveness in the city and its areas
around, as well as "Ciudad Perdida de los Incas" (Lost City of the Incas), Machu
Picchu, the new 7 wonders of the World, transforms it into one of the main
tourist attractiveness of the world, offering an excellent quality of tourist
services.
The minimum recommendable to stay
in Cuzco is 4 days.
We recommend you visit combined
Arequipa, Lake Titicaca - Puno and or Tambopata with Cuzco.
Map
of Cuzco City
Source and photos: ©
COMELTUR |
|
