Last week we visited the Sacred Valley, a popular tourist area north of Cusco, to see three pueblos with indigenous culture and Inca ruins. This week we visited the valley south of Cusco, a less popular tourist destination, to see a Spanish colonial church and ruins from the Inca period and an even older civilization.

We visited the small town of Andahuaylillas to tour the colonial church referred to as the “Sistine Chapel of South America” where almost every inch of the interior is covered with gold, watercolor, and frescos. Next, we stopped at the town of Tipón, a small water-shrine built by the Incas in the 14^th century. Our last stop was Pikillaqta, a pre-Inca site from the Wari civilization.

Our tours of Inca sites have taught us more about Inca history than we ever thought possible. Next week we are visiting Machu Picchu for the culmination of our Incan odyssey. After Machu Picchu, we will leave Peru and travel to Mexico.

Andahuaylillas

The small town of Andahuaylillas is dominated by San Pedro de Andahuaylillas, a church popular due to art and gold covering every surface. The church is in the center of the small-town square and is said to have been built on an Inca site.

Now, I know what you are thinking, “I’ve seen old churches before. What could be so different about this one?” Well, the fusion of traditional Incan spirituality and Catholicism makes this gold, silver, and bronze adorned church unique.

It was built by the Jesuits in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The walls are made with sun-dried mud bricks and the facade is adorned with murals. Although the church is small, the decoration of the interior is impressive.

Many of the paintings include ornate religious symbols in an effort to evangelize the local population. This is the same reason the church was built on an Inca shrine. Another example of incorporating native symbolism into the church is the prominent sun that sits atop the alter. Inti, or the Sun, was one of the primary Inca gods.

The walls, ceilings, and support structures are covered with art and frescos. The church also features canvases from the Cusqueña School of Art, representing the life of St. Peter (with impressive frames in gold leaf) and a baroque altar.

Today the church is a museum which hosts weddings and Catholic celebrations.

Tipón

Tipón is located 14 miles southeast of Cusco at the site of a major shrine where it is believed the Inca worshipped water. The name Tipón is derived from the Quechua word “Timpuj”, which means “to be boiling”. This name refers to the running water from the internal mountain springs (as if the water is boiling).

Multiple levels of terraces are irrigated by an Incan system still in use today. Underground water flows through the shrine and is channeled to the various levels from aqueducts designed to provide just the right amount of water. This system allowed the terraces to be flooded during Incan ceremonies.

At the source of the spring, there are several aqueducts transferring the water to different areas of the shrine. What was amazing to us was the way the Incas were able to balance the flow of water to all the terraces through the design of these aqueducts.

It is a remarkable system that relies only on mountain springs and gravity to channel water throughout the shrine.

Pikillaqta

Usually, tourists come to Cusco, the capital of the Incan empire, and then to Machu Picchu to experience the most famous Inca city. However, there is more to Peruvian history than the Inca civilization. From the period before Christ until the rise of the Incas in the 1400s, several civilizations occupied the western Andes in Peru.

The Wari civilization existed before the Incas and flourished in the coastal and highland areas of ancient Peru between 450 and 1000 AD. The Wari controlled the mountains and constructed a civilization with several provincial capitals connected by many roads. Their civilization significantly influenced the later Inca civilization.

The capital of the Wari empire is the modern city of Ayacucho, 300 miles northwest of Cusco. Wari structures were slightly different than Inca structures with densely packed walls enclosing rectangular structures. The city’s walls are massive (up to 30 feet high and 12 feet thick) and built using stones and mud mortar; their structures did not have stones precisely fitted together as the Incas did. Their buildings had two or three stories, courtyards, drainage systems and the floors and walls of buildings were plaster covered and painted white.

One of the largest Wari towns (it had a population of 100,000) stretches from Ayacucho to Pikillaqta. Pikillaqta is a Quechua word meaning flea (piki) and town (llaqta), or “town of fleas”.

Many scientists believe that the Wari had great urban planning because their buildings were separated by streets and surrounding walls of over 30 feet.

Some of the structures on site had floors and walls covered with plaster to provide a seal from the outside elements. It is believed that these structures were used to store grain and other crops and some of the floors and walls were covered with plaster to keep insects out. Later when the Incas discovered this site, they continued to use the structures for storage.

All this exploring in the southern valley of Cusco made us hungry, and as we drove through these little towns, we saw many restaurants advertising their main dishes of roasted guinea pig and fried trout. We enjoyed the trout but have not yet tried guinea pig.

The Sacred Valley and southern valley were centers of Incan civilization and were worshipped for their fertile land, perfect climate, natural resources, and strategic positions. We saw many Pre-Inca and Inca sites and we were surprised that there were so many ruins. But, of course, we couldn’t explore them all.

This area of Peru offers stunning landscapes and still maintains much of its ancient characteristics, like the traditional dress, spiritual ceremonies, language and an intrinsic connection to Mother Earth (Pachamama) in all aspects of everyday life.

We were delighted to experience its grandeur and history.