Plaza de Armas
The Inca square turned colonial, with two baroque churches set on Inca walls.
Duration
1 hr – 2 hrs
Best time
Early morning
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
The square is the old Inca Haukaypata, the ceremonial heart of the empire, from which the four roads ran to the four quarters of Tahuantinsuyu. The Spanish halved it and built on top.
The cathedral and the Jesuit church rest on Inca foundations visible at their base. The best of it is seen by walking away: on Hatun Rumiyoc street, two minutes off, an Inca wall carries the twelve-angled stone, fitted without mortar to the millimetre.
Getting there
In the middle of Cusco; everything here is on foot. Fifteen minutes by taxi from the airport.
Rules on site
Cusco is at three thousand four hundred metres: take the first day quietly, no exertion and no alcohol, while you acclimatise. Touts on the square offer unlicensed massages and tours — use an agency with a physical address.
Other places in Cusco
Machu PicchuThe Inca city on its ridge, at two thousand four hundred metres, never found by the Spanish.
SacsayhuamánTwo-hundred-tonne blocks fitted without mortar, above the city.
San Pedro MarketAndean fruit, the morning juices and soup for a few soles.Sacred ValleyPisac, Ollantaytambo and the Inca terraces along the Urubamba.