Cusco City & the Bohemian Neighborhood of San Blas - Private Tour

Highlights

- Marvel at Coricancha religious complex

- Unearth the riches of the Inca Empire with this tour.

- Relax in the main square of Cusco, surrounded by the Cathedral, La Compañía de Jesus, shops and restaurants.

- Head towards the San Blas neighborhood, between the cobbled streets of the city. Be sure to see the famous Twelve Angle Stone during your walk.

- Appreciate the main square of the San Blas neighborhood, today known for hosting workshops by renowned local artists.

Your tour will begin with a visit to the Coricancha, also known as the "Temple of the Sun", the construction of which was ordered by Inca Pachacútec (1438-1471) and was used as base for the construction of the Santo Domingo Convent upon the arrival of the Spaniards. This is when the Sun (Inti, in Quechua) was worshipped during the Inca Empire and at one time it was full of golden artifacts.

You will then go to the Cathedral, the most impressive building on the Main Square. and one of the most splendid Spanish colonial churches in America, which is shaped as a Latin Cross and houses about 400 colonial paintings from the Cusco art school, and impressive goldsmith, silversmith and precious stones works.

Its construction lasted almost a century, it started in 1560 and ended in 1654. The Ecclesiastical Chapter ordered to extract and transport hundreds of stones from the Sacsayhuamán fortress for this purpose, with the hard work of thousands of Indians.

You will finally go the San Blas quarter, originally used as dwellings for the Inca nobles, which built impressive stone constructions at a short distance of the Main Square. Today the quarter is a conglomerate of charming small cobblestone streets and the San Blas Church is at its center. Built in 1544 over an Inca sanctuary, it houses the San Blas Pulpit, a filigree work carved in cedar by a craftsman from Cusco.