The first historical site (also part of UNESCO heritage sites) is the Saksaywaman site.
This site was important during its heyday because of its military importance for the Incans and is perched at around 3700 m above ground. It was also thought to be a fortress and the capital of Cusco during that time ...
Today, we see a little llama resting itself on the plains of this site ... too cute!
How the Incans built - AMAZING architecture even until today, huge polished rocks placed at exact precision that can withstand tremendous pressure ... I was so in awe of coming face to face with the structures ...
Beneath it lies the Cusco town ...
Look down ... there's Cusco ..
Got back to the City, and here we learnt that the Cathedral that we see today was actually the site for the Incan temple called - KISWARKANCHA.However, when the Spanish colonized Cusco in the 16th century, they took down the Incan temple and built this Cathedral instead with Roman Catholic influence ...
The Cathedral is called the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin, also known as Cusco Cathedral. Today in addition to its official status as a place of worship, has become a place of display for Cusco's colonial art and many archeological pieces.
One of the art pieces we saw was a painting that explained how the Incans study the universe and time ...
Another piece of sculpture that depicts how Incans read and translate astronomy ... they were masters of the universe during that time ... I was fascinated by everything I saw here and I knew that many of these artifacts were yet to be discovered ... and this makes it even more interesting ... the Incan history is "alive" and everyday something new is uncovered bit by bit ...
I'm not supposed to take this, but just one because it was really amazing inside the Cathedral ...
Finally, after a full day of Saksawaman, another local Incan site and the visit to the Cathedral - we were ready for a HUGE DINNER ! Delish Peruvian fish dishes ... we had our dinner at Pacha Mamma restaurant, a stone's throw from our accomodation.
At the Pacha Mamma restaurant ..
The dishes were really big but prices were reasonable for a restaurant - about Singapore Dollars $15 per dish. Yummmzzz....
The local beers ...
