The Great Highway From Cuzco to Antisuyo (Photo: Wayra)

By Fernando Delgado Aguirre (translation by David Knowlton)

Cuzco recently celebrated the nomination of the Qhapaq Ñan, the Royal Inca Highway, for the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ceremonies took place on the esplanade by the Qoricancha, Cuzco’s ancient Temple of the Sun. Peru’s Minister of Culture was in charge of the ceremony and was accompanied by his peers from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador all of whose countries hold portions of this amazing pre-Columbian road system.

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Foreigner Walking down Cuzco Streets

By Fernando Delgado Aguirre (translation by Walter Coraza Morveli and David Knowlton)

From the Cuzco of before to the Cuzco of today is a journey between the known and the lost. Only in vain could we hope that times past would become todays. Nonetheless, in spite of everything there are places that take us into the past without having to find a time machine. Read the rest of this entry

Ears of Famous White Corn

By Fidelus Coraza Morveli (translated by David Knowlton)

Among the Mountain Lords, the Apus, who in Pre-Hispanic times were the tutelary gods of these lands, was born a community called Huayllabamba, internationally considered the cradle of the best corn in the world. Read the rest of this entry

Lord of Temblors

By David Knowlton

Today is the day. It is a dramatic day when Cuzco’s patron who, throughout the year stays inside the Cathedral, will make his annual exit and procession through the city. Crowds will throng his path and will make an offering to him of the red sage flower called ñuqchu. The Lord of the Temblors, the controller of the earth and good fortune, will come out of the Cathedral, hanging on a cross, looking like a dried cadaver and be covered with red, while his palanquin is born by Cuzqueños who take turn sustaining its weight. Read the rest of this entry

Doing Yoga in the Plaza Regocijo of Cuzco

The city of Cuzco has exquisite plazas where we can enjoy taking a break, reading, or just enjoying the passing of time and, of course, the sun. Each of Cuzco’s plazas has a story to tell and beautiful scenery to observe and get to know.

There are many plazas in Cuzco’s monumental center. The plazas are an important part of Spanish colonial urbanism conjoined with the pre-Columbian past. The are spaces in which to linger and be part of the public that makes a city. Read the rest of this entry

A Doll in Representation of a Comadre

By Hebert Edgardo Huamani Jara (translated by David Knowlton)

Four days before the main day of Carnival, the comadres celebrate their day. In Cuzco’s traditional neighborhoods this is a great fiesta in honor of comadres.

The idea of comadres is not one easily translated into English. Yet in much of the Spanish-speaking world, and in Cuzco in particular, the idea is strong. A comadre is a woman with whom one shares a child through god-parenthood. One comadre is the biological parent and the other is the spiritual parent. This relationship of compadrazgo is one of the most important ties people have in contemporary Cuzco. Read the rest of this entry

Cuzco by Night from Above

One of the world’s great tourist attractions, Cuzco is also a living city whose name has great resonance among indigenous peoples throughout the central Andes, the former domain of Tawantinsuyo. It also is a living city with a strong local culture and social life. Though tourism is the main industry it does not overwhelm the beat of this city’s heart. As this new year begins, Cuzco Eats presents three poems by David Knowlton that each engage the allure of a living Cuzco. Read the rest of this entry

A Christmas Tree on the Plazoleta Espinar

By Walter Coraza Morveli (translated by David Knowlton)

After a Christmas Eve filled with villancicos (Christmas carols), hot chocolate, and panetón, finally midnight came, the Christ Child was born and brought with him Christmas, a day of peace and love for all. Christmas is a day to celebrate in family, showing our love for each other. Read the rest of this entry

Christmas Bow on a Colonial Door Knocker

The Christmas spirit has taken over the streets of Cuzco.  Like the birds that chirp and sing in the morning, whistles and villancicos(Christmas carols) fill the air waves as people hustle to buy trees, decorations, ornaments for their manger scenes, and food from vendors who have taken over areas of the markets and streets.  Christmas will soon be here.
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The Pachacutec Tower

By Walter Coraza Morveli (translated by David Knowlton)

Just ten minutes from the Plaza de Armas, Cuzco’s Main Square, you find one of the important landmarks of the city, the tower museum of Pachacutec. Known as the great emperor who built Cuzco and expanded the Incas’s grasp outside the Huatanay valley, Pachacutec now is honored in a museum that also carries representations of the history of his empire, Tawantinsuyo. Read the rest of this entry