Qorikancha Sun Temple

The sun temple was built by the Incas and has special rooms dedicated to the moon, stars, lightning, and thunder. The building also served as a solar observatory. The south wall was covered in gold to reflect the sun to illuminate the temple and the interior was decorated with several important Inca objects and gold statues. When the Spanish came they stripped the gold from the walls, took the gold statues, even a gold alter and melted everything down.

The Santa Dominigo church took over the destroyed sun temple and built their convent on top of the Inca walls. Parts of the church were destroyed in the earthquake in 1950 but the Inca walls were exposed and found undamaged.

The entrance fee is S/5, about $2 US, and you can get a guide or walk on your own. The beginning has some history written in English and Spanish. Following the history are several rooms with more history and some displays. The complex surrounds the courtyard where the Inca sacrificial stone remains. You can wander around the beautiful gardens and see several Inca stones as well as the very impressive rounded stone wall that hasn’t moved an inch during all of Cusco’s earthquakes. One room has a ceremonial niche, another has a painting of the Inca’s version of the constellations in the Milky Way. A side room contains a small chapel.