Saturday 18 May 2013

The Peru circuit (Day 8 - morning, cont.) - Cusco, heading towards the Temple and Convent of San Domingo - The 2nd of May 2013


(...)

As we strolled along the streets this time what we tried to "grasp" was the atmosphere of the once Hanan and Hurin Cusco through to the colonial times, whose architectural features could be seen almost everywhere.































We  could see the 1549 Church of San Francisco said to stand where previously laid Inca terraces  ...






























... the Temple and Convent of La Merced founded in 1536 by Fray Sebastian de Trujillo ...





























We finally reached Plaza de Armas, said to have been used for  ceremonial purposes during the Inca reign was then named Huacayapata, which meant the square of the warriors or the repenting square, where every year the Inti Raymi (the Festival of the Sun) was held, with. mummies and dead warriors being brought onto it so that people could worship them. It is also said to have been once covered in white sand brought in by lamas to satisfy the Emperor's taste. Tupac Amaru was behead in it in1781 when Francisco Pizarro reclaimed its dominion.























































We continued heading towards Korichamba, said to have been the most famous and richest temple of the Inca State where the temple and the Convent of San Domingo now stand.




































































(To be continued)









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