Plaza de Armas, Cusco, Peru
Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin, Cusco
A colonial cathedral built on the foundations of an Inca palace in Peru's former imperial capital, blending Spanish Baroque architecture with Andean artistic traditions.
The Spanish built this cathedral on top of the palace of the Inca Viracocha, using stones pulled from the nearby fortress of Sacsayhuaman. That fact sits heavily on the building — you cannot separate it from the conquest it represents. But the cathedral that stands today, completed in 1654 after nearly a hundred years of construction, is also something the people of Cusco made their own. The Cusco School of painting, developed by indigenous and mestizo artists trained in European techniques, produced hundreds of canvases that line the walls — and they are unlike anything in Spain. A famous Last Supper by Marcos Zapata shows Christ and the apostles eating cuy, roasted guinea pig, a traditional Andean dish. The Virgin Mary appears in paintings shaped like a mountain, echoing Pachamama, the earth mother. The cedar choir stalls are carved with rows of saints and martyrs. The main altar is solid silver, replaced in the twentieth century after an earlier one was melted down during the wars of independence. The Maria Angola bell in the north tower, cast in 1659, is one of the largest in South America and can be heard across the valley. The cathedral faces the Plaza de Armas, the old Inca ceremonial square, and the mountains rise behind it on all sides.
Diocese: Archdiocese of Cusco
Style: Spanish Colonial Baroque with Andean influences
What to See
The paintings are the heart of this cathedral. Spend time with the Cusco School canvases — they are everywhere, covering nearly every wall. Zapata's Last Supper is in the dining hall area and is the most famous: look for the guinea pig on a platter in the center of the table. The triangular Virgin paintings, blending Mary with Andean mountain imagery, hang in several chapels and are unique to this region. The carved choir stalls are massive and detailed, depicting saints in high relief. The silver altar gleams in the dim interior. The Chapel of the Lord of the Earthquakes holds el Senor de los Temblores, a dark-skinned crucifix carried through the streets during earthquakes — Cusco's most venerated image. The sacristy contains additional paintings and silver liturgical objects.
Pilgrim Notes
The cathedral faces the Plaza de Armas in the center of Cusco. There is an admission fee, and a combined ticket covers the cathedral and two adjoining churches, El Triunfo and Jesus Maria. Photography is not allowed inside. Mass is celebrated daily, and attending Mass gives you free entry. Cusco sits at 3,400 meters elevation — give yourself a day to acclimatize before doing much walking. The cathedral is the starting point for understanding how Catholicism and Andean culture blended in colonial Peru, a process that was often violent but produced art found nowhere else in the world. The procession of el Senor de los Temblores on the Monday before Easter is one of the most moving religious events in South America.