Cusco is a beautiful city in the Peruvian Andes, full of charm, Inca ruins, restaurants, and many things to do. You can easily fall in love with this city and stay here for weeks. Here are some things to do in Cusco and its surroundings: Exploring …

Tourist Attractions in the city of Cusco that you can visit

One of the most incredible cities in the world has to be in one of the highest places in the world (3400 meters). Cuzco or Cusco, offers many tourist, natural and cultural attractions. We are going to tell you what are the best things to do in Cusco and its vicinity.

Its name Cuzco, Cusco (as the Peruvians call it) or Qosqo (southern Quechua), is a struggle as a sign of national identity, and of decoupling from the Spanish colonizing past. The ancient capital of the Inca empire was adorned by the Spaniards with palaces, squares, churches, to make it today the main tourist city of Peru. Such amount of monuments has led it to be known as the “Rome of America”, and perhaps for this reason it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983.

1. Plaza de Armas

The Plaza de Armas of Cuzco is the heart of modern Cusco. A place full of restaurants, shops, churches and buildings from the time of the Spanish conquest.
As a curiosity, to say that in the past it was a swamp, and that it was the Incas who dried it to make it the main place of the capital of the Inca Empire.

2. Stone of the 12 angles.

The most famous stone block in the city, it is considered the Cultural Patrimony of the Nation of Peru, and forms part of the Archbishop’s Palace wall.

3. Qorikancha and the Convent of Santo Domingo

Qorikancha, known as the Golden Temple (its walls were covered by sheets of gold), is the base on which the convent of Santo Domingo was built. Previously it was the religious, political and geographic center of Cuzco. The Convent of Santo Domingo is located above the temple of Qorikancha. Juan Pizarro (brother of Francisco Pizarro the great conqueror) gave the land to the religious order.

4. Sacsayhuaman

Two kilometers north of Cuzco is located this unique Inca fortress in the world. Considered the greatest architectural work of the Incas, it was built during its heyday between the 15th and 16th centuries. The extermination of the Inca nobles, took not only their lives, but the knowledge of how this fortification was built.

5. See the other Churches of Cuzco

In addition to the Cathedral of Cuzco there are more religious sites that are worth visiting for their charm. Churches more collected and of smaller size lodge in their interior small jewels, or others with a bigger size they will impress us by their architecture.

6. Qenqo

To 6 kilometers of the city of Cuzco, in the Sacred Valley Inca, Qenquo is located. A labyrinth of archaeological ruins.
Its name was given by the Spaniards (very aptly) by the galleries between the rocks and the channels that compose it.

7. Puka Pukara

Puka Pukara is one of the fortresses created for the defense of the city of Cuzco. Formed by walls and terraces, the one known as “Red Fortress” (because of the color of its stones at nightfall) is a good example of Inca military architecture.

8. Tambomachay

8 kilometers northwest of Cusco, and 1 kilometer from Puca-Pucara, the archaeological site of Tambomachay is located.
Dedicated to the worship of water, it was also useful to be the resting place of the head of the Inca Empire.