Plaza Regocijo, the old Kusipata

You might walk through here without realising you are still in the Incas’ square. In their time, the great central plaza was split into two sectors by the Saphi river: Huacaypata, today’s Plaza de Armas, and Kusipata, usually translated as ‘place of joy’. Hence its Spanish name: Regocijo, ‘rejoicing’.

1How the square was divided

After the conquest, the Spanish authorities allowed buildings to go up in the middle of that vast open space. The river was channelled underground and the esplanade ended up divided into several squares. From the 16th century the Cabildo, the city council, stood here; today the Municipality occupies the site.

2Inca Garcilaso’s house

On one corner is the mansion where Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, lived as a child and young man. He was born in Cusco in 1539, the son of a Spanish captain and an Inca princess, Chimpu Ocllo. In 1560 he left for Spain and never returned. There he wrote the ‘Royal Commentaries of the Incas’, published in Lisbon in 1609, which introduced Inca history and culture to the world.

A son of two worlds, Garcilaso always called himself ‘Inca’. His house is now the Regional History Museum.

3What to look for

• Garcilaso’s house, with its stone doorway and balconies.
• The arcades of the Municipality, seat of the local government.
• The street linking to the Plaza de Armas: as you walk it, imagine you are crossing the middle of a single great Inca square.