If you arrived out of breath, that’s normal: the Cuesta de San Blas is short but steep, and at this altitude it’s best taken very slowly. Catch your breath and look around. In Inca times this district was called Toqokachi, one of the sectors surrounding the sacred core of the city.

1A parish for Indigenous people

After the conquest, the colonial authorities organised several parishes for the Indigenous population around the centre. San Blas was one of them, founded in the 1560s. Its church, with adobe walls on stone foundations, is one of the plainest in Cusco from the outside.

2The pulpit

Inside it keeps a masterpiece: a 17th-century carved cedar pulpit covered with figures, columns and foliage. It is usually attributed to Juan Tomás Tuyru Túpac, a Cusco artist of Inca descent, although his authorship is not firmly documented. Visiting the interior usually requires a ticket; check the conditions at the door.

3The image makers’ quarter

For generations San Blas has been the artisans’ neighbourhood. The Mendívil family worked here; its founder, Hilario Mendívil, became famous in the 20th century for his long-necked Virgins and saints. Workshops, galleries and small shops still fill its houses.

In San Blas, colonial and Andean Cusco blend in every blue-painted doorway.

4What to look for

  • The detached stone bell tower, standing apart from the church.
  • The blue doors and windows, the neighbourhood’s trademark.
  • The view over the red roofs of the centre from the top of the square.

Documented

San Blas was one of the Indigenous parishes created around central Cusco in the 16th century, and its church keeps a famous Baroque cedar pulpit.

Oral tradition

The attribution of the pulpit to Juan Tomás Tuyru Túpac is traditional and not firmly documented.

Sources and credits

Archdiocese of Cusco, religious circuit; Ramón Gutiérrez (ed.), ‘Arquitectura del altiplano peruano’ (1986); Ministry of Culture of Peru, Decentralised Directorate of Culture of Cusco.

Photos:

  • Church of San Blas in Cusco with its detached stone bell tower: xiquinhosilva, CC BY 4.0.

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