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| The main plaza. Our hotel was 2 blocks away in a restored convent. |
Our first stop of the day is at a Temple Fortress built by the Incans named Saqsaywaman and pronounced ‘sexy woman’. It was built not just to protect the area but to intimidate their enemies. Most of the stones have been removed to build houses and buildings in the city but what remains are massive stones. It boggles the mind as to how they could have moved them from the quarry that was 32 miles away.
Nearby was a Llama farm where we could see the differences in the camelids that resided there. There were llamas, alpacas, guanacos (also spelled huanacos), and vicuñas. The vicuñas are wild and cannot be tamed while the others were very friendly. We also saw condors and were blessed by an authentic shaman.
In the town we visited the Basilica de la Cathedral that was built in the 1500s. We were not allowed to take pictures but suffice it to say it was very beautiful with many silver and gold covered apses. One Jesus statue wore a skirt. The Incas viewed Jesus as a god who represented male and female.
Our next stop was at a convent for monks and nuns that was built over the Temple of the Sun Incan religious site. Again no photos allowed but I found it interesting that a religious building was placed over a religious site. The Spaniards arrived in 1534 and found that all the walls of the temple were covered in gold. It took 8 years to melt all the gold and send it back to Spain.
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