The Cusco city tour and ruins is the best option to start getting to know the Inka culture, since during the Cusco city tour you can see in the architecture, the different stages that the history of Peru and Cusco, from the pre - Inka era, beginnings of the Tahuantinsuyo culture, going through the colonial era, the republican era , until arriving at our days, only the Cusco maintains all these historical traces.
Cusco, in Quechua means "Navel" or figuratively, "center", because from the city of Cusco a vast network of roads started (Inca Trail ) that was address to four regions, which made up the 4 parts of the universe in the Andean cosmovision. Considered by the Incas to be the "dwelling place of the gods", is undoubtedly the most fascinating city of the Andes.
You should know that walking through the Historic Center of the City means traveling through places that were designed by the Inca civilization. The fusion of the Andean and Spanish cultures in the middle of beautiful landscapes, make the city a place of incomparable beauty, that preserves many ancestral customs and traditions, in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Peru. A Cusco city tour and ruins will give you the opportunity to walk among colonial buildings built above walls of ancient palaces and temples of the Inca Empire. The fusion of these architectural styles makes the city a unique place in the world, where you can see true architectural gems, many of them could well be considered works of art.
13:30 We pick you up from your hotel
13:50 Guided tour of the Cathedral
14:30 Guided tour of the Temple of the Sun
15:00 Visit to Sacsayhuamán and guided tour
16:00 Guided tour to Q'enqo
16:30 Guided tour to Pukapukara ruins
17:00 Guided tour to Tambomachay ruins
18:30 Return
We recommended take a small rucksack with:
Interesting Information
You will be picked up from you hotel at approximately 13:00 to start the Cusco city tour and ruins. Our first stop will be the Cathedral (entrance fee: S/25 - U$ 7.8), that is located in the main square of the city. It is a colonial monument of great artistic value built on the Palace of the Inca Wiracocha, and now inside you can see the carved wood works like the choir, the pulpit and the altars, in the same way, the beautiful paintings of the cusquenian school and items of embossed silver.
After touring this sacred building you will continue on foot with your group through an ancient Inca-built street from the Main Square to the Temple of the Sun (entrance fee : S/15 - U$ 5) or Qoricancha. A religious center built to worship the Sun, the most important and venerated deity of the time of the Incas. It is the maximum expression of the Inca architecture and engineering; in addition, you can appreciate beautiful paintings of the cusquenian school in its colonial art gallery.
Continue your Cusco city tour; the group will walk down to the principal avenue, where you will take the bus again. The first stop is the impressive fortress of Sacsayhuamán, located 2 kolimeters from the city. It is famous for its huge carved stones, some of which are 9 meters or 30 feet high and weigh more than 350 tons. This admirable fortress is made up of three superimposed platforms that average 360 meters in length. From the place, you get a spectacular view of the entire city of and the beautiful panorama, highlighting the peaks.
From Sacsayhuaman will go by bus to the farthest archaeological site, Tambomachay, located about 8 kilometers in the north. An archaeological site dedicated to the worship of water and as a place to rest for the head of the Inca Empire. This place is also called the Inca´s shower. It consists of a series of aqueducts, canals and several waterfalls that run along the rocks. The surprising thing about this is that from a main waterfall, the Incas created two secondary waterfalls, which are exactly the same. That is, if one places two empty bottles, one in each waterfall, the two are filled at the same time. Then you will visit Qenqo Archaeological Complex, made up by the archaeological groups of Big Q'enqo and Small Q'enqo. It was considered as a center of worship. Etymologically, it means labyrinth or zigzag, fulfilled a purely religious function, being on the outside a semicircular amphitheater with 19 trapezoidal niches and a monolith that simulates being a puma which measures approximately six meters. The last visit is to Puka Pukara, which means "red fortress", because the calcareous stones with it was built have acquired the reddish coloration of the terrain, very abundant in iron. Is allege that it had the function of protecting Tambomachay, an important palace in the Inca time. But that, in turn, was a "tambo", a collective shelter that offered inn and food to the travelers, as well as to the delegation that had to accompany the Inka in his retirement in Tambomachay.
After finishing the visit of the archaeological sites we will returncusc by bus, arriving by approximately 18:30.
