Qorikancha and Santo Domingo

In front of you lies the religious heart of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca world of the ‘four quarters’ that stretched from what is now southern Colombia to Chile. Its Quechua name, Qorikancha, is usually translated as ‘golden enclosure’. And golden it was: Spanish chroniclers described walls lined with gold plates and figures of precious metal in its courtyards.

1Pachacútec’s temple

According to the chronicles, it was the Inca ruler Pachacútec, in the 15th century, who rebuilt and enlarged this sanctuary to Inti, the Sun, adding chambers for the Moon, the stars, thunder and the rainbow. Studies of the ceque system suggest that the imaginary lines organising the sacred places around the city radiated out from here.

When the Spanish reached Cusco in 1533, much of the temple’s gold was melted down to complete Atahualpa’s ransom. Soon afterwards the complex was handed to the Dominican order, which built its church and convent on top of the Inca walls.

The earthquakes of 1650 and 1950 badly damaged the convent; the Inca walls barely moved.

After the 1950 quake, restoration work uncovered Inca chambers that had been hidden for centuries. Today two worlds stand literally glued together: stone fitted without mortar, and a Baroque church.

2What to look for

• The curved wall beneath the gallery: its blocks fit together in a flawless curve, one of the great achievements of Inca masonry.
• The grassy terraces, which occupy the space of the temple’s old platforms and gardens.
• The contrast in stone: grey, polished Inca andesite below; reddish stone and colonial arches above.

Take any steps slowly: you are at about 3,400 metres and you will feel the thin air.