Qorikancha

Today was a good day. The weather was beautiful and everything went smoothly! My cultural experience of the day, Qorikancha, close to where Anastassja will soon be living, only cost me 10 soles and was top quality – I didn’t need a guide because everything was beautifully explained on clear wall panels in English and Spanish. This site was once the richest temple in the Inca empire – it’s name means “Golden Courtyard” in Quechua - and in the mid-15th century, when it was built, it was literally bedecked in this precious metal. The conquistadores destroyed the temple, looted its wealth and melted down the gold. However, the 6m-high perimeter wall, inside of which they went on to build the colonial church and convent of Santo Domingo, as well as some interior temples, dedicated to the moon and the sun, have withstood all the violent earthquakes in which the conquistadores' colonial buildings crumbled. Today’s site is a combination of Inca and colonial architecture, covered with a modern roof of glass and metal (top picture). I particularly appreciated the gardens and a representation in mounded grass of the Inca trilogy – the condor, the puma and the snake – (middle picture) but I doubt that this dates from Inca times. The colonial artwork was very well presented and in perfect condition and it was interesting to see how post-conquest artists of the so-called Cusco school sought to make religious figures look more like the Inca people – a virgin Mary with black plaits for example.

Upstairs, there was an exhibition of contemporary Inca-inspired art – all a bit tortured to my tastes –  (picture below) but I guess it can’t be easy for artists to cope with both Inca and colonial blood running through their veins and reconcile the two…

After my “bain de culture”, I met Anastassja in town at “The Muse”, a trendy bar where we enjoyed an apéro and some guacamole before my 5km walk back to the family house (and she her evening class)!