Koricancha at a Glance<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- Location:<\/strong> Corner of Av. El Sol and Calle Santo Domingo, two blocks southeast of Plaza de Armas, Cusco<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Altitude:<\/strong> 3,399 m (11,152 ft) \u2014 same as central Cusco<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Best time to visit:<\/strong> Early morning (opening time) or late afternoon, any season \u2014 Koricancha is an indoor\/courtyard site, so weather matters less than avoiding mid-day tour-bus groups<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Recommended stay:<\/strong> 45\u201360 minutes<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Getting there:<\/strong> 5\u20138 minute walk from Plaza de Armas down Av. El Sol; no transport needed<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Hours:<\/strong> Mon\u2013Sat, approx. 8:30 a.m.\u20135:30 p.m.; Sun, approx. 2:00\u20135:00 p.m. (shorter; subject to change for religious services and holidays)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Key ticket \/ entry:<\/strong> Direct-entry ticket purchased at the door, separate from the Cusco Tourist Ticket \u2014 currently around S\/15 per adult, reduced rate for students, free for young children<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- UNESCO status:<\/strong> Within Cusco’s historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Not to miss:<\/strong> The curved outer Inca wall on Calle Santo Domingo; the original temple chambers revealed by the 1953 earthquake<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1. The Most Sacred Shrine in the Inca Empire<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Koricancha was the Inca empire’s principal shrine to Inti, the sun god, until the Spanish stripped its gold cladding in 1533 and built the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo over its foundations. Presided over by the chief astronomer-priest, the Huillac-Umu, the complex held six major structures: sanctuary temples venerating the Sun, Moon, Stars, Lightning, and Rainbows, plus a residence for its priests. The massive gold-plated walls were positioned to catch the rays of the setting sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.fertur-travel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/qoricancha_sun-drenched-300x225.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>Photo: Fertur Peru Travel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The temples were arranged around the Inti Pampa, or Field of the Sun. At its center stood a fountain mounted with the legendary Inca Sunburst, a solid gold image of the sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. From Solid Gold to Spanish Convent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The treasure inside Koricancha was looted and used as part of the ransom paid to free Inca Emperor Atahualpa, who was being held prisoner in the northern town of Cajamarca. The Spanish murdered Atahualpa after the ransom was delivered anyway. The temple itself was razed soon after, and the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo was built directly on top of its foundation \u2014 but much of the original complex, including its curved, once-gold-covered outer wall, survived intact and remains visible today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Witness](\"https:\/\/www.fertur-travel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/qoricancha_temple_tour.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>Photo: Max Krieger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n 3. The Chronicles: How We Know This Wasn’t Myth<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Spanish chronicle accounts describe a garden of gold mimicry surrounding the temple. The 16th-century chronicler Pedro de Cieza de Le\u00f3n recorded that maize was reproduced at actual size, its stalks “cunningly wrought in gold”:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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“The garden where the clods [of earth] were pieces of fine gold, and it was artificially sown with cornfields which were of gold, as well as the stems of the leaves and the [corn] cobs. Besides all this they had more than twenty llamas of gold with their young, and the [indigenous] shepherds life-size, with their slings and crooks to watch them \u2026 all made of gold.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
![\"Koricancha](\"https:\/\/www.fertur-travel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/qoricancha_at_night-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Coricancha")
<\/a>Photo: Fertur Peru Travel <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n This is corroborated by an independent eyewitness with no literary motive to embellish: Miguel de Estete, the inspector sent by the King of Spain to officially record every ounce of gold received in Cajamarca. Estete’s own account nearly matches Cieza’s:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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“Straws made of solid gold, with their spikes just as they grow in the fields. And if I was to recount all the different varieties in the shape of gold my story would never end\u2026”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
- Altitude:<\/strong> 3,399 m (11,152 ft) \u2014 same as central Cusco<\/li>\n\n\n\n
![\"Koricancha](\"https:\/\/www.fertur-travel.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/qoricancha_inti_pampa_field_of_the_sun-225x300.jpg\" "\\"Koricancha")
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