A major feature of Cuntisuyu is the Colca valley, famed for its elaborate
terracing systems, most of which predate Inca times. The valley served as a
gateway to mountaintop shrines, among the most sacred in the empire, especially
Coropuna, ranked by the chronicler Pedro de Cieza de León as the fifth most
important sanctuary in the empire. The lofty, snow-covered peak is surrounded
by more than thirty-five Inca sites, notably Maucallacta (not to be confused with
the Maucallacta of Pacariqtambo), apparently the seat of Coropuna’s oracle and
temple.
Like Collasuyu, the region’s sacred peaks served as destinations for elaborate
processions bearing gifts as well as children and young women intended for
human sacrifices (see Capac Hucha). The most famous of these is a young
woman wearing fine garments and plumed headgear buried near the summit of
Ampato.
Further Reading
Bauer, Brian S. “Pacariqtambo and the Mythical Origins of the Inca.” Latin American Antiquity 2, no. 1: 7–
26, 1991.
Reinhard, Johan. “Peru’s Ice Maidens.” National Geographic 189, no. 6: 36–43, 1997.
■ADRIANA VON HAGENCUZCO
When the Spanish expedition led by Francisco Pizarro marched into Cuzco on
November 15, 1535, they saw spread before them a city tucked into the end of a
long valley, nestled against forested hills. “The city,” noted Pizarro’s scribe,
Pedro Sancho, “is full of the houses of the nobles who are the illustrious people
of the city. . . . There are many other buildings and much grandness; on both
sides flow two rivers . . . [that] are paved so that the water runs clean and clear. .
. . [T]here are bridges to enter the city” (Sancho 1917 [1532–1533]). Although
Sancho compared Cuzco to the cities of Spain, Cuzco’s plan echoed that of other
Inca settlements, focused on a large open space, the dual plazas of Aucaypata
and Cusipata. And like so many Inca plazas, an ushnu graced the center: a
sugarloaf-shaped stone covered with a strip of gold, placed on a low, stepped
platform (see Ushnus). Flanking the plaza of Aucaypata were the royal
compounds of Inca kings and their lineages, built of finely fitted stone and adobe
and topped by thatched roofs. To the south, where the ceremonial city core
tapered at the confluence of the Saphi and Tullumayu rivers, rose the pitched
roofs of the empire’s holiest shrine, the Coricancha (golden enclosure; see
Coricancha).