This area was formerly the nerve centre of the Inca city. Today, the Plaza de Armas is home to most of the major colonial edifices. The imposing cathedral vies for pride of place with the Compañia de Jesús , a stunning Baroque edifice, while a sup..

It is difficult not to be overpowered by the highly Baroque cathedral of Cuzco (16C). Everything, from the immense façade and its sculptures to the interior, embodies the desire of Christianity to spell out its triumph over Incan beliefs. Composed of..

Constructed by the Jesuits in the 18C, the grandeur and rich ornamentation of the Compañía de Jesús seems to defy the next-door cathedral. Behind the profusely carved Baroque façade are a host of elements such as the imposing main altar entirely co..

The huge Qoricancha, or temple of Gold, occupied a major position in the Incan faith. Pizarro made off with its amazing riches (precious stones, gold and silver) during the conquest of the town in 1534 and the edifice was later replaced by Santo Domi..

Behind the Renaissance portal of the templo y convento de La Merced (17C) resides a lovely church adorned with works by masters such as Rubens, Zurbarán, etc, but above all stunning cloisters , in the centre of which plays a fountain surrounded by g..

Abutting a steep hillside, San Blas, once an Incan neighbourhood of Totocachi where the nobility lived, is today the most picturesque and romantic district of Cuzco. Its lanes are paved with well-polished slabs of stone, a tumbling maze of tiny white..

Built in 1536, then rebuilt in 1650, the modest whitewashed adobe church of San Blas in fact stands on Inca foundations. The interior is a fine example of the Churrigueresque style, whose flamboyant Baroque decoration features a profusion of subjects..

Hatun Rumiyoc is a paved street lined with impressive walls of polygonal stones. Towards the middle of the street, a group of children and adults dressed up as Incas seem to be laying siege to the famous 12-cornered stone , a polished monolith, cut ..

Built on the ruins of Inca Roca's palace, the residence of the Marquis of Buenavista features, among others, two delightful Moorish-Andalusian patios adorned with azulejos, a gilt sitting room with a Mudejar-style painted ceiling and a small chapel. ..

The Museo Inka is housed in the lavishly ornamented Plateresque-style Palacio del Almirante. It contains Incan jewellery, mummies, ceramics, weapons, fabric, and in particular, a unique collection of 450 wooden goblets ( qeros ) adorned with painting..

The amazing remains of Sacsayhuamán stand on top of a hillside overlooking Cuzco: huge blocks of stone, some of which weigh several hundred tons, perfectly embedded one into the other, form what look like ramparts and a cluster of round-shaped buildi..

The ancient walls of the monasterio y museo Santa Catalina (17C) have for centuries provided refuge for women who wished to retreat from the world. From the virgins of acclahuasi (on which the convent was erected), well-born young girls dedicated t..

With its shaded squares, lavish garden planted with orange and lemon trees and pleasing rectangular maze of avenues and lanes, Cuzco is depicted by a Moorish-Andalusian urban plan, whose baroque churches, symbolic of the conquering faith, rub shoulde..

The huge, austere church of San Francisco (16C-17C) contains a magnificent finely carved cedar chancel . However its main appeal is the convent , which houses a handsome collection of crossbred baroque paintings from the Cuzco School. Among the lat..

Walk down the Calle Loreto, a paved Inca road of unrivalled length in Cuzco, and enjoy a magical timeless moment. As you go past two of the town's major edifices (Wayna Cápac palace and Acclahuasi), it is impossible not to try and imagine what life w..

The Casa Cabrera, 16C home of conquistador Alonso Díaz, was restored and turned into the pre-Columbian Museum of Art (MAP) in 2003. It contains a selection of the 450 works of art from Lima's Larco Museum, dating from 1250BC to 1532AD, as well as col..

The Museo histórico regional covers the evolution of Cuzco since prehistoric times up until the Vice-kingdom, including pre-Incan and Incan periods, with a collection of mummies, pre-Columbian ceramics, weapons, silver idols, woven fabrics, etc. Even..

The Qenko site with its jagged canals, sculptures and steps cut into the rock is steeped in mysteries and surprises! During your visit, you will come across an amphitheatre and a table that may have been used for sacrifices, before searching for th..

Small waterfalls continue to tumble down among the remains of Tombomachay, rising from a spring that was formerly canalised by the Incas. Was it a leisure centre or sacred site? While the experts disagree, the Bath of the Inca , as it is often calle..