The old and the new Peru

by Marie Robinson Wright

When one visits the chief places of interest in Cuzco, there is so much to be seen that it is customary to divide the time so as to make separate excursions to the Incaic ruins, the old colonial churches and palaces, and finally to the places where modern enterprise is to be seen. A day among the wonders of Sacsahuaman, the Rodadero, the ancient walls of Pachacutec’s palace, the house once occupied by an Inca “medicine man” (easily recognized by the seven serpents carved in relief on the façade), the narrow alleys with their curious legends, is sufficient to inspire enthusiasm for a trip to the neighboring town of Pisac, where it is possible to climb the mountain to the observatory of Inti-Huatana and spend interesting hours in speculation as to the uses the Incas made of the edifice that once topped this almost inaccessible eminence. Still more fascinating are the ruins of Ollantaytambo, which lie a few leagues north of Cuzco, the site of stupendous monuments of Incaic architecture, and once the favorite summer residence of the sovereigns of Cuzco. From the height of its walls, the prospect sweeps to the far horizon, following the beautiful Urubamba valley, or narrows to right and left where high mountains shut out a larger view. Far up the sides of these towering cliffs the Incas’ subjects were buried in caverns hollowed out like swallows’ nests, the openings being covered over with earth to hide their sepulchre. It is not known where the bodies of the Incas themselves were hidden when they were taken from the Temple of the Sun at the approach of the Spaniards. A great treasure awaits the discoverer, for it is said that when an emperor died his body was embalmed and placed in the Temple of the Sun on a throne of gold; both the golden thrones and their occupants disappeared with the advent of the Conquerors and they have never been found.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CUZCO.

On the site of the Church of the Compañia, or the Jesuits’ church, in the Plaza Matriz, once stood the palace of the Inca Huayna-Ccapac in the midst of gardens that covered the area now occupied by the church and the neighboring University of Cuzco. The three plazas now known as Matriz, Regocijo, and San Francisco, then formed a single large square, in which were celebrated the grand public festivals dedicated to the Sun; it was this large square which was encircled by the celebrated gold chain of Huascar. None of the convents and churches built during the viceroyalty show greater architectural beauty than the Compañia. The interior is cruciform, has a single broad nave, whose massive stone pillars are of varied design, some round and others square, with Doric capital on which rest the great arches that are the most imposing features of its architecture. A large dome, supported on four arches of beautiful design, marks the division of the cross where the nave is met by transverse aisles, and on the face of this rotunda is sculptured the coat-of-arms of the Company of Jesus, in elaborate design.

VENDERS IN THE ARCADE, CUZCO.

Though the interior of the Compañia is a magnificent example of the church architecture of Cuzco, the cloister of Merced is also much to be admired, with its superb arches on the upper and lower galleries surrounding the patio, and its wonderful staircases made of blocks of black granite. The cloister itself is built of stone taken from the fortress of Sacsahuaman, the architecture being of the seventeenth century, Greco-Roman in style. Cuzco has also, in the parochial church of San Blas, one of the handsomest pulpits in existence, a superb specimen of the finest wood-carving of the seventeenth century.

The Cuzco of the Incas and the viceroyalty is so absorbing in interest that the modern city must pay the penalty of past fame by a harder struggle for present recognition than new cities have to experience. When a town springs up under the impulse of modern enterprise, every feature of its growth and development is noted; but when it has “a history,” the greatest effort is necessary to win even a passing comment on its present condition. Cuzco has made notable progress within the past few years and is constantly improving in social and industrial development. When President José Pardo visited the city in 1905, he was impressed by the favorable outlook for this section of the republic, destined to be one of the richest industrial centres of South America.

The city of Cuzco, capital of the department of the same name, occupies a central position in southern Peru. It lies in the valley of the Urubamba River, on the banks of the Huatanay, at an altitude of nearly twelve thousand feet above sea level. To the south and west are the plateaus and sierras of the highest Cordilleras, while to the north and east the country slopes rapidly to the region of the Montaña, with its virgin forests and intermingling waterways.

The city of Cuzco is lighted with electricity, and has a complete system of waterworks, recently installed, which ensures an abundance of water for all purposes, and provides the means for improving the sanitation of the city and rendering it a more desirable place of residence. Formerly the lack of a sufficient water supply made it impossible for the authorities to enforce hygienic measures of the greatest importance; but now that this difficulty has been removed, Cuzco is making its streets clean and its plazas beautiful. The water is brought down from neighboring springs ten miles distant, by means of aqueducts and pipes, the old Spanish aqueduct being also utilized for the purpose. From a reservoir of masonry, with a capacity of three thousand cubic metres, the water is distributed at the rate of three hundred gallons a second.