The City of Cusco Cusco is a welcoming, captivating city. Rustic nostalgia fills its narrow streets, as colonial buildings stand in stark contrast to the Inca walls. Urban explorers can saunter through the myriad of shops and examine the rich heritage of Cusco's crafts workshops and markets. In 1533, Francisco Pizarro and his team of Spanish conquistadors discovered the Cusco. The conquistadores described the imposing city in their report to King Charles V: “This city is the greatest and the finest ever seen in this country or anywhere in the Indies…We can assure your Majesty that it is so beautiful and has such fine buildings that it would be remarkable even in Spain.” Planning inspiration in the form of a Puma Cusco was originally built in the shape of a Puma. When the city was first being developed as the centre of an expanding empire, the great emperor Pachatuteq and his contemporaries planned the layout of the city in the form of this great Amazonian cat, well know. Even in modern day Cusco traces of this design can be seen. The head of the puma was Sacsayhuaman, of which the zig-zagged shape is thought to represent the Puma’s ferocious teeth. The heart of the Puma was at the main ceremonial square, now the Plaza de Armas. It’s tail, meanwhile, was the convergence between the rivers of Saphi and Tullumayo. And the Koricancha sun temple? This was the hips of the puma, representing life and reproduction. A great depiction of this design can be found here. Cusco City Design As centre of the empire, the ingenuity of Cusco’s design did not stop at animal representations. This was the finest city in pre-Columbian South America, with exquisite stone masonry and excellent civic planning, making it a Peru travel hotspot. Incan Walls The walls of the city of
The City of Cusco Cusco is a welcoming, captivating city. Rustic nostalgia fills its narrow streets, as colonial buildings stand in stark contrast to the Inca walls. Urban explorers can saunter through the myriad of shops and examine the rich heritage of Cusco’s crafts workshops and markets. In 1533, Francisco Pizarro and…
The Chachapoyas culture and the fortress of Kuelap The Peruvian ruin that uses 3 times as much stone as the Great Pyramid of Egypt- around 40 million cubic feet of stone - is called Kuelap. Situated near the town of Chachapoyas, this immense fortress sits atop a high vantage point and is a remarkable testimony to the Chachapoyas culture – also known as “the Cloud People”. Peru's Best Kept Secret: Kuelap Often called 'The Machu Picchu of the North', Kuelap is one of the the top sites in Chachapoyas not to miss. Visit this Indian Jones region of cloud forest and waterfalls as part of a tailormade trip to Peru. Direct flights from Lima to Jaen provide easy access to the region. Kuelap and the waterfall of Gocta can be visited with a minimum of 4 days in total. Read the full itinerary - Peru's Best Kept Secret: Chachapoyas Kuelap Roundhouses Having been built around the year 500 AD, the pre-Inca ruin contains the partially restored remnants of a Chachapoyan village. This consists of hundreds of roundhouses, narrow entrances, ceremonial buildings, high walls and rock reliefs. the largest ancient stone structure in South America. The ruins are still relatively undiscovered by travellers to Peru, and those who venture here will more often than not have the whole place to their selves, giving the feeling of exploring an exotic lost city. Walls of Kuelap The towering walls are capped by the cloud forest, some 3,000 meters (9,900 feet) above sea level. They command a spectacular view of the surrounding landscape, which are marked by rolling Andean foothills, fertile pastures and rolling valleys. This truly is a spectacular highlight of Peru. Interesting in visiting Kuelap and Chachapoyas? Contact us today to speak to an expert travel planner.
The Chachapoyas culture and the fortress of Kuelap The Peruvian ruin that uses 3 times as much stone as the Great Pyramid of Egypt- around 40 million cubic feet of stone – is called Kuelap. Situated near the town of Chachapoyas, this immense fortress sits atop a high vantage point…
The key to Spanish success during the conquest of the Incas Just 169 soldiers accompanied Francisco Pizarro as he campaigned from northern Peru through the Andes before ultimately capturing the Inca capital of Cusco, defeating tens of thousands of soldiers in their wake. There is no single answer to the success of the Spanish in their conquest of the Incas, rather a culmination of different factors. Here we share some of the most important factors that played a role in their success in overthrowing the Empire. The power of the Sword The most obvious answer to explain Spanish success was their swords. Despite many believing that gunpowder and firearms were the key cause of the Spaniard’s seeming invincibility, it was in fact the devastating precision and effectiveness of the Spanish blade that allowed them to literally cut through thousands of Inca warriors. The best swords came from Toledo, and the art of sword-making here had reached a high at the time of the conquest. In addition, the Spanish had far superior armoury to the indigenous warriors, who, not having iron, had only developed such weapons as clubs and a type of sling shot. Forming Tactical Alliances Following the example of Hernando Cortes, who utilised native alliances in his conquest of the Aztecs in Central America, Pizarro tactically befriended peoples that were hostile to the Inca Empire, and used their dislike of Inca rule to insight them to rise up and assist the Spaniards in their defeat. One of the most famous resistors against the Incas were the Chachapoya people, who lived in Peru’s northern sierra. This was a civilisation renowned for its fearsome warriors and famed shamans, and they thrived in this region from 800AD to the mid-1500s. They had been hostile to Inca intentions to control their land long before
The key to Spanish success during the conquest of the Incas Just 169 soldiers accompanied Francisco Pizarro as he campaigned from northern Peru through the Andes before ultimately capturing the Inca capital of Cusco, defeating tens of thousands of soldiers in their wake. There is no single answer to the…
In such an exciting year for Peru luxury travel, it’s time for Aracari to give our rundown of what hot new hotels are up-and-coming, in the pipeline and on the cards.
In such an exciting year for Peru luxury travel, it’s time for Aracari to give our rundown of what hot new hotels are up-and-coming, in the pipeline and on the cards.
