Sacsayhuaman
2 km northeast Cusco (10 minutes by car)
Opening hours: daily from 07:00 – 18:00

Different archaeological groups belong to this park, Saqsayhuaman, Qenqo, Puca Pucara and Tambomachay, the last of which is 8 km. far from Cusco.

Sacsayhuaman is a Quechua-word and means 'satisfied falcon'. And like a falcon overlooking Cusco lies this fortress, from where, at Inca times, any threat approaching the city could be seen.

The first and perhaps the most significant chronicle, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, (1539 - 1616), son of an Inca princess and a Spanish conquistador describe Sacsayhuaman with the following words:
"This is the greatest and most wondrous Work that the Incas built as a demonstration of their majesty and power. Its grandeur is impossible to imagine for those who have never seen it“.

Sacsayhuaman was built in the 15th century during Pachacutec and Tupac Yupanqui’s ruling. Its construction lasted over a decade. It is said that more than 30.000 men built the giant superposed walls, which are 600 m long and reach a height of 24 m. The stones on the lowest level are the biggest and the wall is nine meters high. The walls on the other two levels are made of smaller stones. With strenous work were the enormous perfectly fitting granite blocks chiseled and smoothed, and like in other Inca walls, they were put together without the use of mortar.
Against the sky stands up this magnificent granite structure. No doubt that a visitor will feel small and lost in the presence of such a colossal labyrinth.

Up until now it is still unknown how the Incas transported the formidable stone blocks – the biggest weighs about 155 tons – from a the quarry stone, located 20 km away. It isn’t clear whether the structure was a military fortress or storage place or even a gathering place.

In Sacsayhuaman, living and provisions spaces are found. The chronicler Sancho de la Hoz decribes these spaces: „The whole fortress was a depot for weapons, maces, lances,
Denn in Sacsayhuaman befanden sich auch zahlreiche Wohnräume und Vorratslager, die von dem Chronisten Sancho de la Hoz folgendermaßen beschrieben wurden: "Die ganze Festung war ein Depot von Waffen, Keulen, Lanzen, slings, shiels, cotton cussioned war vests and other variety of weapons and clothing for soldiers who had moved from different parts of the empire.

From the inside of the structure nothing has been left. The stones from the old labyrinth with its large number of entrances and niches were removed by the Spanish in order to build their churches, the columns in the cathedral and as fundament of the colonial houses.

Every 24th of June – day of the winter solstice- the Inti Raymi takes place in the grand square of the fortress to honor the Sun God the way the Incas did in the past.
During the colonial time the Inti Raymi was banned by Viceroy Toledo. Not until 60 years ago, was the Inti Raymi celebrated again, this time performed by archaeologists and historians who referred to the information left by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.
So the Inca and his royal court surprisingly come to live for a few hours and so do the old traditions, sacrifices and dances in a fantastic display that attracts thousands of people.

This celebration is very important to tourists; locals ironically call it „Gringo Raymi“. The performance, represented by hundreds of actors who portray the Incas garbed in ceremonial robes, bring the magic, power and significance that Sacsayhuaman once had.


Quenqo
3 km northwest Cusco
Opening hours: daily from 07:00 – 18:00

Qenqo means in Quechua „labyrinth or zigzag“. As it happens with other Inca remains, the real meaning of this place of worship has not totally been deciphered. In the ceremonial forecourt shaped like a semicircular amphitheater about 4 m high, there is an almost destroyed monolith of an upstanding puma. In the walls that border the court, 19 niches carved in stone serve as seats In front of the court, rises a big lime rock covered by lamas, pumas, condors and other symbols.

Especially attractive is an extended zig-zaging Duct, through which holy water, chicha (corn beer) or blood flow into a chamber during religious rituals. The chamber might have been used to embalm some noblemen. Priests were able to tell whether the omen was good or bad by seeing the course the liquid followed.

Therefore it can be assumed that Qenqo was a temple where death rituals took place.
In this context, it is important to know that the Incas had a very clear and differentiated vision of the cosmos. In their religion, the universe was divided in three worlds - Pachas in Quechua:
The upper world or Hanaqpacha, which is the divine level; the lower world or Ukhupacha, where Mother Earth or Pachamama lived; and finally the earthly Kaypacha, which is between the other two worlds.

The Incas believed that life had a divine origin and that after death the soul would return to the Hanaqpacha while the body to the Ukhupacha. So Qenqo could have been the place in which the priests held the ceremony of body and soul separation and the relatives would give their last farewell to their dead..

Puca Pucara

About 4 km behind Qenqo, and still in the archaeological Park of Saqsayhuaman, is Puca Pucara, „the red fortress”. This site was assumedly one of the many tambos that he Incas had along their roads as rest stops, watch-over points and control stations. Tambos were also used as weapons storage and military support for strategic purposes. There the soldiers of the mighty Empire were taken care of during their campaigns.
Along the way from Cusco to the Sacred Valley, from this semicircular construction, where walls, stairs, rooms and niches are to be admired, all the surrounding areas were perfectly controlled.

Tambomachay

400 meters down the road from Puca Pucara is the site of Tambomachay, a water sanctuary with fresh water springs.
At he foot of a mountain, the remains of this Inca, is extended over four terraces, where water was worshipped.
On an Inca wall that has trapezoid-shaped niches and doors crystal clear water from a subterranean stream runs through a canal in a basin.
For the Incas water was a sacred element of life and a symbol of purity of soul. All the Inca rites were preceded by a cleaning ceremony. It is uncertain whether the Inca went to Tambomachay for bathing while his cortage stayed in Puca Pucara. Anyhow, this site is called the „Bath of the Inca“ by the locals.