Half Day Private Tour to Sacsayhuaman and Tambomachay

Koricancha is the most impressive example of how Inca and Hispanic cultures fused together. The remains of the ancient Peruvians' Sun Temple were used as foundations on which the Santo Domingo church and convent was built. The temple is a symbol of Western dominance. The site is a living example of the co-existence of Peru's past with European architecture.

Possibly the most sacred and important building in the entire Inca Empire, Korikancha was the name given to the Inca Temple of the Sun.

When the Spanish conquistadores arrived in Cusco, the temple was torn to the ground and its valuable items taken. Nowadays the colonial structure of the Church & Convent of Santo Domingo sits on top of the original Korikancha foundations, but inside many of the original temple buildings remain.

sits on top of the original Korikancha foundations, but inside many of the original temple buildings remain.

While construction began in 1559, the edifice wasn’t actually completed until 1654. Also known as the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin, the church is now a UNESCO World Heritage site containing major archeological relics, artifacts, statues, and hundreds of colonial paintings.

Visitors to this magnificent Inca fortress, which overlooks the city of Cusco, cannot fail to be impressed by the beauty and monumental scale of this important Inca construction. Sacsayhuaman can be variously translated as 'speckled falcon' or 'speckled head'. The last interpretation refers to the belief that the city of Cusco was set out in the form of a puma whose head was the hill of Sacsayhuaman. The origins are uncertain but the fortress is generally attributed to the period of Inca Pachacuti, the man who essentially founded the Inca empire.

This is one of the finest examples of a rock artfully carved insitu showing complex patterns of steps, seats, geometric reliefs and a puma design. The rock is an excellent example of the Inca 'Rock Worship'. In Inca cosmological beliefs the Incas held large rocky outcrops in reverence, as if they possessed some hidden spiritual force. On top of the rock are zigzag channels which served to course chicha (local maize beer) or sacrificed llama blood for purposes of divination; the speed and route of the liquid, in conjunction with the patterns made in the rock, gave the answers to the priest's invocations.

Inside the rock are large niches and a possible altar. This may have been a place where the mummies of lesser royalty were kept along with gold and precious objects

Situated on a hill with superb views over the surrounding countryside Puca Pucara was more likely a tambo, or kind of post house than an actual fortress. Travelers may have lodged here with their goods and animals before entering or leaving Cusco. An alternative theory is that it served as a guard post controlling the flow of people and produce between Cusco and the Sacred Valley

Commonly referred to as the 'Banos del Inca' or Inca baths, Tambomachay was a site for ritual bathing. The excellent quality of the stonework suggests that its use was restricted to the higher nobility, who maybe only used the baths on ceremonial occasions. The ruins basically consist of 3 tired platforms. The top one holds four trapezoidal niches that perhaps were used as seats; on the next level an underground spring emerges directly from a hole at the base of the stonework and from here cascades down to the bottom platform, creating a cold shower just high enough for an Inca to stand under. On this platform the spring water splits into two channels, both pouring the last metre down to ground level.

You must know that walking through the Historic Center of the City of Cusco, Means to travel through places that were designed and designed by the Inca civilization. The fusion of the Andean and Spanish cultures amidst beautiful landscapes, make Cusco a place of incomparable beauty that retains many ancestral customs and traditions in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Peru. A tour through the historic center of Cusco, will give you the opportunity to stroll among colonial buildings built on bases and walls of ancient palaces and temples of the Inca empire; The fusion of these architectural styles makes the imperial city of Cusco (capital of the Inca empire) a unique place in the world, where you can enjoy real architectural jewels, many of which may well be considered works of art.