Cusco Basilica

The Incan temple, Kiswarkancha, was the palace of the Incan emperor of Peru. When the Spaniards arrived in the early 1500s, they destroyed the temple and began building their own cathedral on top of the temple. They reused some of the rocks, and they had some hauled in from another site. The Cathedral was completed in 1664, after several architects worked on it. Eventually it had three naves, two side chapels, and a front wall. We also noted the crypt underneath, but we did not go in. In each chapel and niche, numerous statues of saints and the Virgin Mary were prominately displayed. The dress for each of them was quite colorful, and every statue of the crucified Christ was covered by a beautiful blanket of some sort. We entered the sacristy which was not very elaborate, but it did have pictures of every bishop who had ever served there, as well as a list of names. The 40th Bishop is currently serving in the Basilica. In addition to the highly decorated chapels, naves, and walls, many pictures are displayed. Artists from Spain came to Cusco to teach the natives to paint, but they were only allowed to paint religious paintings. One of the most famous is that of the Last Supper, but with some Andean intrigue added to it. Judas is placed in the bottom right hand side of the painting, and his skin is darker than the others. In the upper right of the painting is a picture of the sky with Andean symbols of the moon and the sun. And served on the plate in front of Jesus is a dead chinchilla (not a guinea pig, as some have thought), which is the Andean's way of passively signaling that they are not giving up all of their native ways. The three naves differ markedly, which makes the Basilica quite interesting. I am glad we visited it.