CORICANCHA
The principal Sun temple of Tahuantinsuyu, the Coricancha (“golden enclosure”)
lay in the southern part of Cuzco’s ceremonial core, not far from the confluence
of the city’s two rivers, the Saphi and the Tullumayu (such locations, known as
tinkuys, are considered auspicious). The temple served as the nexus of the
valley’s ceque system, the imaginary lines that underlay Cuzco’s ritual
organization. Because of the preeminence of Inti, the Sun god, and his human
manifestation in the Inca ruler, the Coricancha ranked as the empire’s most
important shrine, acting as a conceptual model for a network of Sun temples
across the realm. Sun temples received rich endowments of religious specialists,
aclla (chosen women), land—much of it devoted to maize cultivation—as well
as pastures to sustain large herds of camelids. Only the most devout could enter
the Coricancha’s inner sanctum after fasting and abstaining from salt, meat, hot
peppers, and sex for a year; and they could only enter barefoot and carrying a
burden, as a sign of submission and reverence.
The Spaniards built the church of Santo Domingo over the Coricancha, Cuzco’s
sun temple and one of the empire’s holiest shrines. Jean-Pierre Protzen.