The Cathedral of Cusco or Cathedral Basilica of the Virgin of the Assumption is the main temple of the city of

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

, in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and houses the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Cusco. The Cathedral Basilica of Cusco, together with the Triunfo temple make up the Cathedral Complex, it is located in the northeast sector of the current Plaza de Armas of Cusco. In the place that, during the Inca period, was occupied by both the ''Suntor Wassi'' (lit. "Government House") and the ''Kisoarkancha'' or Palace of the eighth Inca Viracocha. The complex occupies an area of 3,920 square meters and is the most important religious monument in the Historic Center of

. Since 1972 the temple has been part of the Monumental Zone of Cusco declared as a Historical Monument of Peru. Also, in 1983, being part of the historic center of the city of Cusco, it is part of the central zone declared by UNESCO as

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

History

''Kiswarkancha''

The Incas built the temple known as ''Kiswarkancha''Cathedral
A Homage to the Mystical, Magical, most Famous and Oldest City of the American Continent on the main square in Cusco. It was the

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

palace of '' Viracocha'', ruler of the

Kingdom of Cusco The Kingdom of Cusco (sometimes spelled ''Cuzco'' and in Quechua languages, Quechua ''Qosqo'' or ''Qusqu''), also called the Cusco confederation, the Cusco chiefdom, or the Inca Kingdom, was a small polity based in the Andes, Andean city of Cus ...

around a century before the Spanish colonists arrived. The aboriginal name of this city was ''Qusqu''. Although it was used in Quechua, its origin has been found in the

Aymara language Aymara (; also ) is an Aymaran languages, Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Bolivian Andes. It is one of only a handful of Indigenous languages of the Americas, Native American languages with over one million speakers.The other ...

. The word itself originated in the phrase ''qusqu wanka'' ("Rock of the owl"), attending to the foundational myth of the Ayar siblings. Near to the ''Kiswarkancha'' was the ''Suntur Wasi'', an armoury and heraldry centre for the Inca royalty. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived in Cuzco, they decided to take down the temple and build their Christian cathedral in that prominent site.

Basilica Cathedral of our Lady of Assumption

The Cathedral of Cusco is the result of various projects carried out by different architects who took over at the head of the works. The first cathedral in Cusco is the ''Iglesia del Triunfo'', built in 1539 on the basis of the palace of Viracocha Inca. At present, this church is an auxiliary chapel of the Cathedral. In 1538, after the return of Vicente Valverde with the cédulas reales that recognized him as bishop of Cusco, he began the construction of a cathedral by order of erection on September 4, 1538. However, this work would remain in its infancy, as can be deduced from the response of the Cabildo of Cusco to the request of the Cathedral dean Luis de Morales, which indicated that the work would be suspended until the following summer. In the following years, given the narrowness of the assigned site, an attempt was made to move the cathedral first to the part that formerly corresponded to the Palace of Pachacuti called Qasana and that

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...

reserved for him (current Portal de Panes of the Plaza de Armas). However, that move was impossible because, in 1538, Pizarro had given that lot to the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

. It was then sought to use the part of the old Cusipata where the Hotel de Turistas del Cusco currently stands, but this idea was also discarded around the 1540s due to the opposition of the Mercedarians who had already occupied the site that they still occupy today and who it would be very close to the cathedral. Faced with this situation, at the initiative of the second bishop of Cusco Juan Solano, the Cabildo decided to purchase the Alonso de Mesa lot adjacent to the one assigned for the construction of the cathedral and which corresponded to the old Kiswarcancha that was the Viracocha palace. This decision was made on May 17, 1552. Between the years 1560 and 1664 the Cathedral Basilica of this city was built. Its construction was entrusted to Juan Miguel de Veramendi in 1560, who was replaced one year later by Juan Correa who worked until 1564. This was followed by Juan Rodríguez de Rivera, Juan Cárdenas, Juan Toledano and Bartolomé Carrión. However, when Viceroy Francisco de Toledo arrived in Cusco between 1570 and 1572, the construction of the cathedral was stopped. In 1615, Miguel Gutiérrez Sencio, an architect who followed

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

and Giacomo Barozzi, and an admirer of the sober and pure style ( Herrerian style) established by Juan de Herrera in El Escorial Monastery, took over the direction of the work, along with Francisco Becerra. Under their direction, the Cathedral of Cuzco was completed in 1654. The 1650 earthquake caused little damage to the cathedral except for the collapse of the ribbed vault. This earthquake motivated the change of the planes of the façade in its upper part and the suppression of the third body in the towers, which is why there is too much volume in the body, leaving the towers short, giving the appearance of solidity to the building. The premiere

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

of the cathedral was on August 15, 1654 and its definitive consecration was on August 19, 1668 by the thirteenth bishop of Cusco Bernardo de Isaguirre Reyes. The construction material was stone from nearby areas and red granite blocks were also reused from the fortress known as Sacsayhuamán. It was recognized as a

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

of the Catholic Church on February 8, 1928. The construction, with three naves, stands on a hall-type floor plan. A surprising detail is the fusion between the order of the capitals and friezes and the type of roof used: the

ribbed vault A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a nave, church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Isla ...

, characteristic of the Gothic. This gives rise to a surprising amalgamation of styles, frequent in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style of Latin America. The famous image of the Lord of the Earthquakes is venerated in the cathedral. This cathedral, with a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

façade and

, late-Gothic and

Plateresque Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" (''plata'' being silver in Spanish language, Spanish), was an artistic movement, especially Architecture, architectural, developed in Spanish Empire, Spain and its territories, which appeared ...

interiors, has one of the most outstanding examples of colonial gold work. Equally important are its carved wooden altars. Since in this city the painting on canvas of the famous Cusco School of painting was developed, the most important in Colonial America, important samples of local artists who follow this school can be seen precisely in the cathedral.

Architecture

The Gothic-

style of the cathedral reflects that of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

during the period of the Spanish conquest of South America and also Cusco., Cusco-Peru There is also evidence of

influence in the façade on the ''

Plaza de Armas ''Plaza de armas'' (pl. ; literally ''arms square'' or ''place-of-arms'') is a Spanish language, Spanish term commonly used to refer to town square, town squares in Latin America, Spain and the Philippines, as well as a name commonly given to th ...

''. The Cathedral of Cusco has a rectangular basilica-type floor plan with three naves: the epistle nave, the gospel nave and the central nave, coinciding with the three doors on the façade. It has fourteen cruciform pillars that define the distribution of the twenty-four rib vaults, the largest being the entrance vault and the crossing. The 24 vaults are supported by basic structures made up of 21 stone arches and 32 semicircular arches. All these structures are made of

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

stone (a fine-grained volcanic rock chemically and mineralogically similar to

diorite Diorite ( ) is an intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is Intermediate composition, inter ...

) The naves are covered with Gothic

s, made from tiercerons joined together by spine and cross ribs and by ribs that draw circles and ogees. The chapels are covered with groin vaults. The Incas incorporated some of their religious symbolism into the cathedral, for example, the carved head of a

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

(an important god or religious motif found widely through much of ancient

) is part of the cathedral doors.

Artwork

Much of the artwork in the cathedral originated from the ''Escuela Cuzquena'' ( Cusco School of art). This was a school that was built by the Spanish to educate the

s and their descendants with the methods and disciplines of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

. This school was famous throughout the colonial Americas, but the Quechua painters were limited to painting scenes of European and

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

importance. The restrictions imposed on the

artists meant that they were not permitted to sign their own artwork, so much of it is unidentifiable. Also participated white criollo painters. Here is a list of some of the most notable pieces found within the cathedral: *''Pintura Señor de los Temblores''. 17th century large painting, which depicts the whole of Cusco during the 1650

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

. Many of the townspeople can be seen carrying a crucifix (see the 'Cathedral Artifacts' section) around the

, praying for the tremor to end. *Vicente de Valverde. A portrait of the friar who became a bishop at Cusco, after accompanying

on his conquests. *Christ's 12 Parables. An incomplete collection of twelve paintings by the Quechuan artist Diego Quispe Tito. There were initially twelve canvases (completed in 1681) to depict the twelve months and zodiac symbols of the year, incorporating the parables of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

into the pictures.

''Iglesia del Triunfo''

Templo de El Triunfo - Complejo de la Catedral de Cusco

The Church of Triumph, to use its English translation, was built in 1538, just three years after the

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

es settled in Cusco. It was built over ''Suntur Wasi'', which was an Inca ceremonial building adjoining the palace of Viracocha, in a similar way to the way that the cathedral is now adjoined to the earlier ''Iglesia del Triunfo''. The name of the Church of Triumph derives from the history of the Spanish settlers in Cusco. At one point, presumably between 1533, and 1536, the Spanish were cornered by a besieging army of Incas, led by Manko Inka. The final stand for the Spanish was in the ''Suntur Wasi'', before its demolition, and just as it seemed that they were on the verge of defeat, the Spanish miraculously managed to drive back the Incas. The

es attributed this victory to Saint James the Greater (the patron saint of Spain), who was reported at the time to descend from heaven to drive back the Incas. This is why the church is called the Church of Triumph, and also why there is a statue of St. James atop a horse within the Church, depicting him slaying an Inca.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin, Cusco Roman Catholic churches in Cusco Roman Catholic cathedrals in Peru 1538 establishments in the Spanish Empire Roman Catholic churches completed in 1538 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1654 Plateresque architecture in Peru Basilica churches in Peru Tourist attractions in the Department of Cusco 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Peru