Cusco is an ancient Incan city located over 10 000 feet above sea level in the Andes mountain range in Peru. It was once the historic capital of the Incan empire, Maccu Picchu is to Cusco what the Vatican is to Rome. The Incans first arrived to Cusco in the 13th century and constructed the city to a definite plan including the chanelling of two rivers around the town. Incans had a law that when a man died, his title went to one of his sons but his property was controlled by a body or corporation made up of his other relatives. Each new title holder had to build a new house and add new land to his empire which helped the Incan empire itself expand.
In 1533 the Spanish lead by Pizzaro conquered Cusco, the last Incan princess was married into the Borgia family (an extremely powerful family of the pope in Rome) and Christianity then spread through Cusco and the nation. From this time buildings in Cusco were constructed with a Spanish influence. Legend has told that the entry to the hidden Incan city of gold is hidden beneath The Church of the Society of Jesus of Cusco, in Cusco Palazo (square). We went into the church and the guide took us down to the basement and showed us the entry to the labyrinth of tunnels that the Incans built when the Spanish were coming. The Incans knew that the Spanish were after all of their precious metals, especially their gold so they hid their treasures in an underground city of gold surrounded by a maze of tunnels. Many people have tried to find the hidden city of gold by entering the labyrinth but no-one has ever returned. For safety the tunnels were closed many years ago. The alter in this photo is one of the last surviving large golden alters left in Cusco, the Spanish stripped most of the gold they found and took it back to Spain.
Cusco was such a wonderful city, it was surrounded by amazing mountains, had spectacular old buildings, the people were so friendly and colourful and of course there were llamas! It was a nice place to relax and enjoy Peru once you were used to the altitude. We found the altitude hard to cope with because there wasn't as much oxygen in the air as we are used to. It made us feel exhausted and light headed so we had to stop and rest frequently. Aunty Nic gave us some coca tea and coca & eucalyptus lollies to help with the altitude. Peruvians use coca leaves to help increase the haemoglobin in the blood which helps increase oxygen intake. Coca leaves are also used to make a drug called cocaine but luckily chewing on the leaves does not have the same effect!
We had a walk around Cusco on Saturday night when the Peruvians celebrate the weekend with fire crackers. In the afternoons they make giant stands out of bamboo and reeds and then decorate them and cover them with fire crackers. When the night falls the town comes to the square to witness this amazing fire cracker show. Bands play the Peruvian version of jazz music, cars stop in the street and kids play around in the sparks. Speaking of sparks one of them hit me in the head, it hurt! We were all losing it as we would never dream of doing this at home because it was so dangerous (as I found out) but it was so fun. Sparks were flying everywhere, rockets were being set off aswell, all the car alarms in the street started going off, it was fantastic! Drew
In 1533 the Spanish lead by Pizzaro conquered Cusco, the last Incan princess was married into the Borgia family (an extremely powerful family of the pope in Rome) and Christianity then spread through Cusco and the nation. From this time buildings in Cusco were constructed with a Spanish influence. Legend has told that the entry to the hidden Incan city of gold is hidden beneath The Church of the Society of Jesus of Cusco, in Cusco Palazo (square). We went into the church and the guide took us down to the basement and showed us the entry to the labyrinth of tunnels that the Incans built when the Spanish were coming. The Incans knew that the Spanish were after all of their precious metals, especially their gold so they hid their treasures in an underground city of gold surrounded by a maze of tunnels. Many people have tried to find the hidden city of gold by entering the labyrinth but no-one has ever returned. For safety the tunnels were closed many years ago. The alter in this photo is one of the last surviving large golden alters left in Cusco, the Spanish stripped most of the gold they found and took it back to Spain. Cusco was such a wonderful city, it was surrounded by amazing mountains, had spectacular old buildings, the people were so friendly and colourful and of course there were llamas! It was a nice place to relax and enjoy Peru once you were used to the altitude. We found the altitude hard to cope with because there wasn't as much oxygen in the air as we are used to. It made us feel exhausted and light headed so we had to stop and rest frequently. Aunty Nic gave us some coca tea and coca & eucalyptus lollies to help with the altitude. Peruvians use coca leaves to help increase the haemoglobin in the blood which helps increase oxygen intake. Coca leaves are also used to make a drug called cocaine but luckily chewing on the leaves does not have the same effect! We had a walk around Cusco on Saturday night when the Peruvians celebrate the weekend with fire crackers. In the afternoons they make giant stands out of bamboo and reeds and then decorate them and cover them with fire crackers. When the night falls the town comes to the square to witness this amazing fire cracker show. Bands play the Peruvian version of jazz music, cars stop in the street and kids play around in the sparks. Speaking of sparks one of them hit me in the head, it hurt! We were all losing it as we would never dream of doing this at home because it was so dangerous (as I found out) but it was so fun. Sparks were flying everywhere, rockets were being set off aswell, all the car alarms in the street started going off, it was fantastic! Drew
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