Kaye Family Journey: Back to the Navel

June 26 (continued) & 27, 2016

Cusco was the capital city of the Incan empire where all the royal living & festivity, governing and worship was centered. The name Cusco literally means "navel". Similar to Rome, all roads led to Cusco- and so, we boarded the train headed back to the Navel to further contemplate all that we experienced at one of the world's most visited sites. Was Machu Picchu the Sapa Inca, Pachacutec's holiday retreat? a holy nunnery? and/or a sacred pilgrimage site? So many unanswered questions...

Happy Boy

Faithful journaling

Silly Boy

Entertainment on the train is a little scary...

Cusco- the capital city

We concluded our last day in the Andean highlands touring the Cusco Cathedral, the Mercado Central de San Pedro and two of the major Incan ruins for a final look at the architectural skills of the Incas. We also did a little shopping at the local alpaca factories to find the perfect sweater.

When the Spanish conquered Peru they looted the gold and demolished the centers of worship then raised cathedrals on the foundations of the Incan temples. It is said that the city of Cusco was built in the shape of a Puma (the Incan symbol for earthly life) with the golden Temple of Inti (the sun) known as the Koricancha, Qoricancha or Coricancha (remember the no-rules spelling of the Quechua language) at the center.

Today the ruins of the Temple of the Sun hold up the Santo Domingo church.

The walls of the Koricancha are constructed with the most precise and finest carved stones-
no mortar and no space enough for even a human hair between the stones.
They were originally completely covered in gold.

These stonemasons had NO iron tools! Hard to believe...

The left wall was built by the conquering Spaniards & the right wall by the Incas.

There is a saying-
"The right wall was built by the Incas and the left wall built by the "inca"pables" Get it?!?

Our family's knowledge of engineering and architecture is extremely limited but you do not have to know much to appreciate the precision of the alignment of these 3 windows...

...or the fitting together of these puzzle-like "pillowed" stones!
Also, notice the size...and these are NOT the large ones.

We have now visited many different markets in both Ecuador and Peru but still managed to experience new sights, smells and tastes here at the Mercado Central de San Pedro.

We purchased a green fruit (cannot remember the name) that when eaten tasted like banana, mango and pineapple all in one bite!

One round of this bread feeds a family of four for a week.

Did not have the nerve to taste this "jello" made solely of bone marrow...

...not sure how you eat cow nose...

The main Cathedral of Cusco on the Plaza de Armas- the main square in the historical district.
*No photos were allowed inside* So sorry we cannot show the painting of the Last Supper with a roasted guinea pig centerpiece!
From this plaza you can spot the tops of 13 more cathedrals.

Just on the outskirts of the city on a high ridge lies the ruins of ancient walls that are said to be the teeth of the puma-shaped city. Saqsaywaman is constructed from massive stones- some are almost 30 feet high and estimated to weigh over 200 tons.

Ivan says the easiest way to remember the pronunciation is that it sounds like "sexy woman".

Stones from these walls continued to be removed and were used for constructing other buildings until the 1950s!
The areas where you see smaller stones are from today's reconstruction efforts to preserve the ruins.