The city of Cusco has places known worldwide such as Machu Picchu, the rainbow mountain and the sacred valley of the Incas, however very few people visit the interesting and beautiful places located a short distance from the main square of this ancient city.
We have prepared an article with the 10 places you must visit in Cusco. These places include theme parks, nature spots, art, and much more.
Summary
1. The planetarium
This is one of the places you must visit in Cusco if you want to understand the sky through the eyes of the Incas. You will visit the closest astronomical viewpoint to the city of Cusco to be nourished by culture, astronomy and enjoy a stellar show that you will never forget.
This astronomical tour lasts approximately 3 hours and costs 70 soles per person. During the tour you will be able to learn about the Inca constellations, you will observe in a dome a projection of the sky and especially of the southern hemisphere and you will observe the moon or a star through professional telescopes.
Planetarium
2. La Morada de los Dioses
The House of the Gods of Cusco is also known as Apukunaq Tianan of Cusco and comes to be a complex of lithic sculptures recently carved by the cusqueño Michel Monteagudo Mejía. It is a place with its own magic due to the enormous size of the sculptures that measure between approximately 4 to 8 meters high. This modern and wonderful attraction was dedicated to the Inca and Andean gods and mythology such as: La Pachamama, the Puma, the three-dimensional door and the Mirador (still under construction).
This magical place that you must visit in Cusco is located 30 minutes from the Plaza del Cusco and has an entrance fee of 20 soles. Within its facilities you can enjoy an aromatic quillabambino coffee or a delicious lunch.
Morada de los Dioses
3. You must visit in Cusco, the Cochahuasi Animal Sanctuary
The Cochahuasi Animal Sanctuary a organization, dedicated to rescue wildlife the animals are recovered from illicit trafficking, black market and those who have suffered the mistreatment of man, many of them will no longer be able to be released since they have a dependence on human beings or in other cases are totally mutilated or damaged, which makes it impossible for them to return to nature since they would become an easy prey for hunters or other animals of the same species.
If you really want to see the flight of the Andean condors, Cochahuasi is a place that you must visit in Cusco. This animal sanctuary has an area where about 4 condors live, which make flights periodically while visitors are a few meters from them.
Cochahuasi
4. The market of San Pedro
Another of the places to see in Cuzco is the Mercado de San Pedro, the oldest and most well-known in the city. This market, also called the Central Market, was designed by the famous Gustave Eiffel, author of the Eiffel Tower.
Inside you can see more than 1000 stalls dedicated to selling fruits, vegetables, breads, cheeses, meats, medicinal plants, psychedelics, musical instruments, costumes, offerings, food of all kinds and more, without a place that you must visit in Cusco to know the city from its bowels.
An excellent option to not miss any detail of this local market is to hire the services of a professional guide. The San Pedro market opens at 6 in the morning and closes at 5:30 in the afternoon.
San Pedro or Mercado Central
5. Visit the potato park in Pisac
Peru is the only country in the world that has more than 3,500 varieties of cultivated potatoes and more than 200 types of wild potatoes. This tuber was cultivated for the first time by civilizations that developed 8 thousand years ago in Peruvian territory.
This is the perfect place you must visit in Cusco if you want to learn everything about the potato. The potato park has an important genetic diversity with more than 1,330 potato varieties conserved in the field and in a community germplasm bank, it has the presence of wild relatives of different crops, it practices experiential tourism and a current ancestral culture evidenced in the structure communal “ayllu”.
The potato park is made up of the peasant communities: Chahuaytire, Amaru, Paru Paru and Pampallacta, corresponding to the District of Pisac, Province of Calca, Department and Region of Cusco.
Parque de la Papa Pisac
6. The viewpoint of San Cristobal
This viewpoint is only a 10-minute walk from the main square. Definitely a place that you must visit in Cusco due to the panorama and cultural richness that it possesses.
The Mirador de San Cristóbal is considered the best viewpoint in Cusco, because it has the best and most complete view of the city, in addition to this we find in this place the Church of San Cristóbal and the beautiful square of the same name.
San Cristobal
7. The San Blas neighborhood
The San Blas neighborhood is one of the mandatory places you must visit in Cusco. Its steep and cobbled streets, the incredible works of art by its famous artisans and a viewpoint from which to see the entire city of Cusco are just some of the great attractions that attract hundreds of tourists every day to this historic neighborhood of the city.
Just walking through its streets is already a pleasure for all the senses. Its buildings, its continuous movement of people of all nationalities, its narrow streets. Everything that makes up San Blas will leave you wanting to stay here forever.
What to visit in the San Blas neighborhood?
Galleries and workshops: precisely on the Cuesta de San Blas there are numerous galleries and workshops of important Cusco artists. In them, you will be able to appreciate his works and, in addition, buy the one that you like the most (there are prices for all budgets!).
San Blas Square: at the end of the Cuesta de San Blas is the San Blas Square, a small corner where you can sit and rest after climbing that steep street. Here you can visit two of the great attractions of this neighborhood, the Hilario Mendivil y Familia Gallery and the San Blas Temple.
Hilario Mendivil and Family Gallery: Hilario Mendivil is one of the greatest representatives of Cusco crafts. His work, which was developed during the 20th century, stands out for its long-necked religious images reminiscent of llama and alpaca, very representative animals of the Andes.
Temple of San Blas: one of the great jewels of colonial architecture in this neighborhood is the Temple of San Blas. This church, which was built over an Inca sanctuary and later rebuilt in 1650 after an earthquake, has an incredible pulpit carved in cedar, by an anonymous author, but attributed to local artists.
San Blas Viewpoint: to end the day, nothing better than going up to the San Blas Viewpoint and enjoying a beautiful sunset with one of the best panoramic views of Cusco.
Restaurants and bars: To close with a flourish one of the unmissable places that you must visit in Cusco, the neighborhood is perfect to enjoy a good meal or toast with cocktails and beers, since there are endless restaurants and bars of all kinds .
San Blas
8. The Cathedral of Cusco
The Cathedral of Cusco is one of the most beautiful and significant monuments in America. Built between 1560 and 1664 on the Quishuarqancha, the former palace of the Inca Huiracocha, with huge blocks of stones brought from Sacsayhuaman, this historic piece is also considered Cultural Heritage of the Nation and brings together a combination of unique characteristics such as its Gothic, Baroque and renaissance.
If you are an art lover, the Basilica Cathedral of Cusco is a place that you must visit in Cusco. You will find around 300 canvases from the famous Cusqueña School, sculptures, chapels, altars and much more, without a doubt a place to appreciate the art of the 17th and 18th centuries in all its splendor.
Basilica cathedral of Cusco
9. The Sun enclousure or Qoricancha
! Yes or yes, you must visit in Cusco this incredible piece of Inca architecture, despite the fact that the Qoricancha is almost 100% destroyed, the few walls that you can see will give you a full idea of how extraordinary the Incas were in stone architecture. .
According to the Inca conception, the Qorikancha was the religious center of Cusco, geographical and political center. The temple of the Qorikancha, was the place where he paid homage to the highest Inca god the «Inti» (sun). «Qori» means worked gold, its Spanish form is cori. «Kancha» means a fenced place, limited by walls. From where it is deduced that Qoricancha would mean «enclosed place that contains gold».
Qoricancha
10. The stone of the 12 angles and Inca Roca street
If you want to see one of the best examples of imperial Inca architecture with a padding style, the stone of the 12 angles you must visit in Cusco. On Hatunrumiyoc street, a few steps from the main square, is this famous stone with 12 angles.
On one side of this stone, is the entrance door to the Archbishopric of Cusco, a place where you can appreciate paintings from the Cusco school painted by the great Diego Quispe Tito.
In the back is the Inca Roca street, where you can appreciate the designs of a puma and a snake on the Inca megalithic walls.
Piedra de los 12 ángulos
Without a doubt, in addition to the wonder of Machu Picchu, there are extraordinary places that you must visit in Cusco.
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