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The Majestic Sacred Valley

Standing guard over the Urubamba Valley, the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Ollantaytambo’s great terraces and massive stoneworks served as a ceremonial center and fortress, protecting the heart of the Incan empire from its enemies. Its massive structures were crafted by moving giant stones for miles using sheer manpower and ingenious engineering devices. The builders even rechanneled a river to allow the giant stones to be manoeuvred across. It was here at Ollantaytambo that the Incas staged their last victory over the Spanish.

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By Lee Klein

Francisco Pizarro

I first visited the Cathedral in Lima, Peru, in 1979, and saw the mummy of Francisco Pizarro. The mummy had been placed there back in 1891, when Peruvian officials, wanting to prominently display the “Founder of Lima,” had the body moved from the chapel in which it had lain for the previous 350 years.

But was this really Pizarro? Just prior to my visit, workers cleaning a crypt beneath the altar found two wooden boxes, one containing the bones of five people—one missing a head! The other box held a lead casket on which was inscribed in Spanish, “Here is the skull of the Marquis Don Francisco Pizarro, who discovered and won Peru and placed it under the crown of Castile.”

Francisco Pizarro died a violent death. On June 16,1541, while he was having dinner in his governor’s palace, a group of men, led by the son of his ex-partner, Diego de Almagro, broke in and stabbed him to death. As he lay dying from multiple sword wounds, he drew a cross on the ground in his own blood, kissing it, and crying “Jesus.” Continue reading

By Ellen R. Gordon

The Inca Trail! Wow! I love to hike, but until this year my experience had been limited to one or two day hikes. Now, we were going to spend four days in the Andes of Peru hiking the trail to Machu Picchu. Most travelers choose to take the three-hour scenic train ride from Cuzco, but we decided to hike the route taken by the ancient Incas—a trail considered to be one of the most scenic in the world. All the literature said that any “reasonably fit” person could do this, but since they also mentioned passes with elevations of up to 14,000 feet, I was a bit apprehensive.

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Cusco (Peru) was chosen as the American Capital of Culture 2007

Barcelona (Spain) / Cordoba (Argentina) / Guadalajara (Mexico), 04-10-2006

The city of Cusco has been chosen as the American Capital of Culture 2007, according the testimony of Xavier Tudela, International Bureau President of Cultural Capitals and the American Capital Organization of Culture. The next week, Xavier Tudela and Cusco’s mayor, Carlos Valencia Miranda, will sign the designation of this millennium city as cultural concerning of America next year.

Cusco is the capital of the department of Cusco in Peru. It is located in south mountains of Peru, at 3000 meters over sea level. There are three hundred thousand people living there. This is the capital of the Inka Empire and the Historic Capital of Peru, it was declared as the Patrimony of the Humanity by the UNESCO in 1983. Continue reading