Cuzco
By Laura Closkey
16 Jun 2004 8:09 pm
Corpus Christi festival, Cuzco
Just another day in the never ending Corpus Christi Festival. Here, St. John the Babtist and San Felipe somebody duke it out on the plaza in front of the Irish pub and Chinese restaurant.
My first day in tourist dollar dependent Cuzco is also the first day of festival season. The Corpus Christi festival begins today and will continue for the next 9 days, followed by the festival of the sun, etc. Cuzco is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Americas. The Incas built many important temples here in their capital. The Spanish came along and kept the Incan foundations but replaced the temples to the sun and moon with catholic churches, monasteries and nice homes for the colonists. Today Cuzco is a city of about one million. I believe about 70 percent work in tourism. It’s the most beautiful city I’ve visited in South America. Beautiful colonial buildings sit atop very impressive Incan foundations. The plazas are beautiful and restaurants great. The Plaza del Armas, was packed with people today celebrating Corpus Christi and there was a grand parade of religious floats coming and going from the Cathedral all day long. On the side streets sidewalk restaurants are set up. These stalls all serve the national dish, a plate of boiled chicken, blood sausages, fried corn (like big corn nuts), sour cheese, green seaweed, and deep fried cuy, or guinea pig. Mmmm, they love their guinea pig here in Peru.
This 12 sided stone in Cuzco represents the 12 Incan emperors