Cusco travel guideCusco is a holiday magnet because it is the base camp for many travelers who take flights to Peru so they can explore the nearby ancient city of Machu Picchu. Pictured below, Cusco is the old imperial capital city of the Incas in Peru and sits high atop the Peruvian Andes. |
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CLICK ON THE PICTURE above for more world travel photos with information about low cost travel spots and travel agency links for airline flights, hotels, hostels and car rentals. What's on the next page? Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu If you're looking for low cost flights to Peru, travel books, discount hotel rooms, hostels, maps, car rentals, etc, visit our Travel Shop Thumbnail Picture Index Last Minute Travel Tips Useful Peru Links Maps of Peru |
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Cusco travel guide
Note: Travel to the area around Machu Picchu has resumed after floods stranded about 2000 tourists and caused widespread infrastructure damage in January 2010. Repairs are underway around the town of Aguas Calientes, which links Machu Picchu by rail to the city of Cusco. Cusco boasts a rich architectural and archaeological heritage of Spanish colonial buildings and original Inca stonework. This city is fairly cosmopolitan as it's the headquarters for travelers from around the world who are intent on seeing Machu Picchu. The hotels are full around June 24 because of the famous Inti Raymi festival of the winter solstice. By 1500, Cusco was an architectural masterpiece and home to about 15,000 people. Walls of massive granite blocks lace the city, intricately carved and fitted without mortar to withstand centuries of earthquakes. Cusco was seized by the Spanish invaders in 1533, many of the original Inca buildings destroyed to make way for palaces and churches. Much of Cusco was burned during a rebellion in 1534. The desecration of Inca culture and religion by the Spanish saw the demise of a civilisation unique for its various scientific, astronomic, engineering and at times mysterious achievements. The busy main square of Cusco, Plaza de Armas, was the Incans' symbolic centre of their empire. Today it is often full of people and is encircled by restaurants, street vendors and tourism outlets. Many of the restaurant serve local cuisine such as guinea pig and alpaca. The plaza is dominated by a massive Catholic cathedral with churches on either side and a huge church occupying another side of the square. Within strolling distance are two other public squares, Plaza San Francisco and Plaza Regocijo, as well as numerous other historic places of worship such as the beautiful Spanish church of Santo Domingo on Av El Sol (Avenue of the Sun). This is the site of the original Incan Koricancha, or Temple of the Sun, dating from about AD1200 when its walls were covered in gold panels. Just outside Cusco is Sacsayhuaman, a massive complex of large stone structures displaying superb Incan stonemasonry of boulders weighing up to 200 tonnes.
The city is filled with narrow cobbled streets, Inca stone walls and extravagent colonial palaces and churches built by the Spanish following their overthrow of Cusco and Peru. Right in the heart of Cusco is a main square called the Plaza de Armas... a great meeting place for travelers and an excellent area to wander and shop through the local market stalls. Perched on a low hill overlooking Cusco is Sacsayhuaman, long revered as one of the most majestic Inca temples and the site of a tragic final battle when the Incas tried to reclaim their city from the Spanish. Many people go to Cusco as a stop-off point before they travel into the nearby Sacred Valley of the Incas, through which runs the Urabamba River. This valley is peppered with ancient Inca ruins just begging to be explored. Cusco remains a vibrant city steeped in authentic Peruvian culture and is a great Peru travel base from which to set out on the Inca Trail or catch a train all the way to Machu Picchu. Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu Peru weather for holiday travel To book low price flights to Peru, hotels, hostels and travel tickets for most South American cities, visit our Travel Shop. |
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