Cusco, Peru

Day 5- Contiki South America

Today we started off with a walking city tour of Cusco, Peru. Once capital city of the Inca Empire, Cusco was invaded by the Spanish in the 1500′s leaving a mixture of Spanish influenced buildings with an Inca architecture style.

Koricancha or Santa Domingo Church, the original Inca temple devoted to the sun god.

Unfortunately, I was not able to take any photos of the insides of the churches.  Still, a lot can be said about the interiors which containes walls covered in paintings, vaulted celings, and gold and silver alters dedicated to the various saints.

One very amusing and fascinating part of the interior of the cathedral was that even though it was built by the Spanish, they hired the native Incas to paint the artwork. The paintings the natives produced included various hidden Inca religious symbols such as: a lama in place of a horse, mountain and moon shapes in the women’s dresses, and my personal favorite, a guinea pig for The Last Supper.

Speaking of guinea pigs, yes, I tried one.  It tasted like a very chewy mix of pork and chicken, not very much meat on it as well.

In conclusion, I rather enjoyed Cusco. It’s a very modern city with tons of character and a wonderful night life.  I highly recommend.