Celebrating the founding of Cusco this festival is an impressive dramatisation of the most important Inca festival, the Fiesta del Sol (Sun Festival). The rite ushers in the winter solstice or new sun (Inti Raymi) and takes place at the main square in front of the Sacsayhuam fortress, which is now an archaeological site. Thousands of actors recreate this epic ceremony, held entirely in the Quechua language. The festivities can be observed from the stones of the Sacsayhuamor in areas that have been set aside for viewing. June 24.
Construction on this structure began in the second half of the 15th century by order of the ruling Pachacutec Inca but had not yet been completed upon the arrival of the Spaniards. A magnificent sample of Inca architecture, it has enormous walls of granite block forming three immense superimposed terraces in a zigzag pattern. It served religious, administrative and possibly military purposes. Its proximity to Cusco and the size of its stones (some five meters tall and weighing more than 300 tons) led to its use as a quarry for the construction of colonial Cusco. The annual June Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun) takes place here. Admission is included in the "Tourist Ticket."
Twenty-five minutes by car from Cusco, you'll find this magnificent construction attributed to the public works commanded by Pachacutec Inca. It's also known as the "Baths of the Inca" for its fountain, falls, and streams. This place of recreation for the Inca and the princesses was also used as lodging for hunting trips. The fountain, its terraces, stairways, portals, and walls give the place a devout atmosphere. It is considered to be a sacred place for water, a theory shared by past and present Andean inhabitants. Admission is included in the "Tourist Ticket."
Huayna Capac Inca (at the end of the 15th century) ordered the construction of this complex altar for funeral rituals. It's made of a system of tunnels, galleries and geometric cuts carved into the stone. Opposite this area is the amphitheatre, a great elliptical wall with 19 entrances that appear to be wide seats or thrones, and an interesting monolith of 4,70 meters in height. Until 1934, the whole ensemble was covered beneath 3 meters of earth. Admission is included in the "Tourist Ticket."
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