Hatun Rumiyoc and the palace of Inca Roca

Hatun Rumiyoc means something like ‘the one with the great stone’ in Quechua. The street takes its name from the wall in front of you, one of the best preserved in the city, which tradition and the chronicles attribute to the palace of the Inca Roca.

1An Inca between history and memory

Inca Roca appears in the king lists as the sixth Inca, the first of the Hanan or ‘upper’ dynasty. His dates are uncertain: Inca genealogies were passed down orally and only written down by chroniclers in colonial times. What is tangible is this polygonal masonry, in which every block was shaped to fit its neighbours without a drop of mortar.

2From palace to archbishopric

After the conquest the site became a noble house and, in time, the Archbishop’s Palace. Today it houses the Museum of Religious Art, with paintings of the Cusco School. The building sums up the history of Cusco: Inca base, colonial body and church use.

The Twelve-Angled Stone is not an isolated curiosity: it is the most visible signature of an entire wall built with the same precision.

In February 2025 a man struck the stone with a hammer, causing damage the authorities described as irreversible. So when you see it, please don’t touch it: it belongs to everyone.

3What to look for

• The Twelve-Angled Stone: count its edges with your eyes.
• The joints, so fine that nothing shows between one block and the next.
• The cushioned faces: each stone bulges slightly, with sunken edges, so the wall seems alive in raking light.