Vicuñas pause in the shadow of Coropuna in Cuntisuyu, regarded by the Incas as
one of the empire’s most sacred mountains. Coropuna’s temple and oracle were
located nearby. Adriana von Hagen.The main road to Cuntisuyu left the city of Cuzco just below puma chupan
(the “puma’s tail,” at the confluence of the Tullumayu and Saphi, below the Sun
temple, Coricancha) marked by a ceque shrine known as Uxi and headed south-
southwest for the mythic origin place of Pacariqtambo. Known today as
Maucallacta (old town), Pacariqtambo was a settlement of some 200 structures
said to have housed the founding Inca Manco Capac’s oracle. According to
legend, the cave of Tambo T’oco on a nearby stone outcrop marks the place
where Manco Capac and his siblings emerged from below ground to found
Cuzco (see Myths, Origin).
While Cuntisuyu was the smallest of the suyu divisions, its size and apparent
insignificance belied its importance, along with Collasuyu, as one of the richest
ceremonial suyus, embracing important regional and empire-wide religious
centers, ranging from Pacariqtambo to the snow-clad volcanoes of Arequipa
with their human sacrificial offerings. Fertile puna grasslands provided pasture
for vast herds of wild and domesticated camelids, and the few Spanish
descriptions of the region also note rich gold mines.