Qorikancha, or golden enclosure, the former Temple of the Sun, where the Convent of Santo Domingo is now located, was one of Cusco, Peru’s most essential and revered temples. There, the ancestors rendered homage to the maximum Incan god, the Inti (sun god), so you could only enter fasting, barefoot, and carrying something on your back.
Visiting the temple’s ruins to appreciate the incredible Inca architecture is still possible. The walls are made of larger stones than those at Machu Picchu, and all fit within a millimeter. It is known that each wall was covered with gold, which the ancient Spaniards stole.
The entrance to this place costs about ten soles for adults. Any tourist can visit this revered temple and learn about the history and culture of an ancient Peruvian civilization.
The Santo Domingo del Cusco convent is the oldest religious building in South America. Who found it on the walls of the famous Koricancha by 1540. Nowadays, it is possible to see the incredible Inca architecture in this convent, together with the Spanish architecture, as a sample of our mestizo culture.
The Koricancha, “golden enclosure”, Temple of the Sun, perhaps did not become the largest or most imposing of the buildings built by the Incas, but because it was the Temple of the Sun, it was the most revered and respected.
Colonial sources worked by indigenous hands had water deposits, an octagonal form, and a quadrangular base. Some chroniclers affirm that it is of Inca origin, that in her, she ruled one of the empires, or High Priest HUILLAC A VERTI, and the chicha-like offering for its father, the INTI.
SACRIFICE ROOM: After the rainbow is enclosed, there is a vast space whose specific function is unknown. Three well-worked holes at the bottom of the wall serve as drainage for water. The last of the enclosures, whose access has three doors, was destined to one of the essential deities: thunder, lightning, and lightning, which they collectively called INTI ILLAPA. This enclosure was dedicated to Inti Illapa, who worshiped him and offered him ritual sacrifices.
THE TEMPLE OF THE MOON: The moon received part of its divinity from the god ILLA TECSE VIRACOCHA, becoming the patron of women’s birth and queen of heaven. What is imagined as the moon in the form of a woman, and so was her representation in this room. His cult was in charge of women.
The beautiful Inka passage gave access to the most crucial area of the Koricancha. Of particular note are three Lithic blocks with more than thirty angles. One of them magnificently shows twenty-four angles and six sides. It is also impressive that the inverted form shows the passage’s end.
We are inside the temple of the stars. The stars, servants of the moon, and daughters of the sun and the moon were considered divinities.
In the middle part of the TEMPLE OF THE STARS, this ceremonial hornacina observes holes, low relief works, and bony remains of auquenids. This hornacina is at sunrise in the Winter Solstice, Feast of the Inti. In this niche, it is necessary to emphasize the perfection of the cut or carved stone, which appears to have been cut by a powerful diamond, with the edges intact and unpolished. Also, it is necessary to emphasize the perfection in the design of the holes, which seem to have been drilled by a powerful drill, being careful not to break the stone by force applied.
THE TEMPLE OF THE STARS in all its magnificence. The hornacina is located between the last two doors. To the right margin of this take is the DOOR OR SACRED STREET. Further on is the TEMPLE OF THE MOON. This photo is in the reverse direction of the fourth shot.
In this room, we found the solar idol, or representation, of the supreme god WIRACOCHA, or the god PUNCHAO. Some Inca mummies guarded the enclosure, and the Mamaconas, or priestesses of the sun, served as guardians of this temple, the most important archaeological complex. The mastery of the stone’s work is reflected in the design and construction of this enclosure, which, as you can see in the right margin of this photo, is a stone wall in vertical form, while the other wall is curved without angle, straight at the union.
In this temple and the stone constructions made by the Incas, we must emphasize that there is no material between the joints of the stone blocks that form these walls, and that the space between the blocks practically does not exist. It is like taking a giant stone, cutting it precisely (exact measurements), and assembling it in a predetermined place.
In the lower part, you can see part of the sacred gardens; the Incas decorated these gardens with flora and fauna from the empire of TAHUANTINSUYO, including works made in gold and silver.
FONTS: In this shot, you can see one of the fountains located in the sacred garden.
In the archaeological complex of the Koricancha, there is also a pinacoteca of colonial art, which use the environments of the old refectory (dining room) of the community and the room “De Profundis”, to exhibit paintings of the Cusqueña School of the XVII and XVIII, religious sculptures, among which stands out the Virgin of the Rosary of the Indians. You can also visit the old sacristy of the convent in which are decorated ornaments embroidered in threads of gold and silver, pictures of the Cusco school, pictures of the Dominican Saints and colonial furniture.
If you want to visit the Sacred Temple of Koricancha, follow our recommendations and enjoy a sacred mystique after learning about its wonders.
Access the temple from the Plaza de Armas through the Loreto Alley “Intiqhicllu,” cross Maruri Street, and leave Pucamarca on the left to advance through Pampa del Castillo. In Inca times, there were no buildings in that place; instead, there was a series of platforms that descended to the river and a farm called Mancochuqui, dedicated to Huanacauri, the largest Huaca of the Incas.
The route leads to an elongated square where the church of Santo Domingo is. That space was the Intipampa, the plaza or plain of the Sun; before, it was about twelve meters wider than it is now because the builders of the colonial church reduced it to raise its temple.
Location: Intersection Av. El Sol and Calle Santo Domingo.
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