, image = Cathédrale de Cusco Décembre 2007e.jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption = Main facade of the Cusco Cathedral. , location =

Cusco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the list of cities in Peru, seventh m ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, geo = , religious_affiliation =

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, rite = , consecration_year = 1668 , status = , functional_status = , heritage_designation = , leadership = , website = , architect = Juan Miguel de Veramendi, Juan Correa, Miguel Gutiérrez Sencio,

Francisco Becerra Francisco Becerra (c. 1545–1605) was a Spanish architect. Born in Trujillo (Extremadura), he designed and worked on several cathedrals in the New World. Becerra either designed the Puebla Cathedral, or worked on building it to designs by Claud ...

, architecture_type =

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

, architecture_style =

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

, late Gothic,

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

Plateresque Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" (''plata'' being silver in Spanish), was an artistic movement, especially architectural, developed in Spain and its territories, which appeared between the late Gothic and early Renaissance in ...

, general_contractor = , facade_direction = Southwest , groundbreaking = 1249 , completed = 1654 , construction_cost = , specifications = , capacity = , length = , width = , width_nave = , height_max = , dome_quantity = , dome_height_outer = , dome_height_inner = , dome_dia_outer = , dome_dia_inner = , spire_quantity = , spire_height = , materials = Stone , designation1=WHS , designation1_offname=City of Cusco , designation1_date=1983 (7th session) , designation1_criteria=iii, iv , designation1_number
273
, designation1_type = Cultural , designation1_free1name = State Party , designation1_free1value = Peru , designation1_free2name = Region , designation1_free2value =

Latin America and the Caribbean The term Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is an English-language acronym referring to the Latin American and the Caribbean region. The term LAC covers an extensive region, extending from The Bahamas and Mexico to Argentina and Chile. The re ...

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

, in

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 Viracocha is the great creator deity in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology in the Andes region of South America. Full name and some spelling alternatives are Wiracocha, Apu Qun Tiqsi Wiraqutra, and Con-Tici (also spelled Kon-Tiki, the source of the ...

. 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 A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

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 (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

palace of ''

'', ruler of the

Kingdom of Cusco The Kingdom of Cusco (sometimes spelled ''Cuzco'' and in Quechua ''Qosqo'' or ''Qusqu'') was a small kingdom based in the city of Cusco, on the Andean mountain ranges that began as a small city-state founded by the Incas around the start of 13th ...

around a century before the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

colonists arrived. The aboriginal name of this city was ''Qusqu''. Although it was used in

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

, its origin has been found in the

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

. 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 Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

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 Viracocha (in hispanicized spelling) or Wiraqucha (Quechua, the name of a god) was the eighth '' Sapa Inca'' of the Kingdom of Cusco (beginning around 1410) and the third of the Hanan dynasty. He was not the son of Yawar Waqaq; however, it was p ...

. 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 The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cusco ( la, Cuschen(sis)) is a Latin Metropolitan archdiocese with see in the city and old Inca imperial capital of Cusco, in Peru.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 Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui ( qu, Pachakutiq Inka Yupanki) was the ninth Sapa Inca (1418–1471/1472) of the Kingdom of Cusco which he transformed into the Inca Empire ( qu, Tawantinsuyu). Most archaeologists now believe that the famous Inca si ...

called Qasana and that

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro González, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of Peru. Born in Trujillo, Spain to a poor family, Pizarro chose ...

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 , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

. 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 The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives ( la, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order es ...

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 The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cusco ( la, Cuschen(sis)) is a Latin Metropolitan archdiocese with see in the city and old Inca imperial capital of Cusco, in Peru.Juan Solano Juan Solano, Dominican Order, O.P. (c. 1505 – 1580), was a Spanish people, Spanish Dominican Order, Dominican missionary and the second bishop (Catholic Church), Catholic bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cuzco, Diocese of Cuzco, Peru ...

, 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

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 Francisco Álvarez de Toledo ( Oropesa, 10 July 1515 – Escalona, 21 April 1582), also known as ''The Viceroyal Solon'', was an aristocrat and soldier of the Kingdom of Spain and the fifth Viceroy of Peru. Often regarded as the "best of Peru ...

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 (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled ''De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribute ...

and Giacomo Barozzi, and an admirer of the sober and pure style (

Herrerian style The Herrerian style ( es, estilo herreriano or ''arquitectura herreriana'') of architecture was developed in Spain during the last third of the 16th century under the reign of Philip II (1556–1598), and continued in force in the 17th centur ...

) established by

Juan de Herrera Juan de Herrera (1530 – 15 January 1597) was a Spanish architect, mathematician and geometrician. One of the most outstanding Spanish architects in the 16th century, Herrera represents the peak of the Renaissance in Spain. His sober style reac ...

in El Escorial Monastery, took over the direction of the work, along with

. 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 facade 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 property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

of the cathedral was on August 15, 1654 and its definitive consecration was on August 19, 1668 by the thirteenth

bishop of Cusco The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cusco ( la, Cuschen(sis)) is a Latin Metropolitan archdiocese with see in the city and old Inca imperial capital of Cusco, in Peru.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 Sacsayhuamán, which can be spelled many different ways (possibly from Quechua language, ''waman'' falcon or variable hawk), is a citadel on the northern outskirts of the city of Cusco, Peru, the historic capital of the Inca Empire. The com ...

. It was recognized as a

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 church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Islamic a ...

, characteristic of the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

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

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

façade and

late-Gothic Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...

and

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 The Cusco School (''Escuela cuzqueña'') or Cuzco School, was a Roman Catholic artistic tradition based in Cusco, Peru (the former capital of the Inca Empire) during the Colonial period, in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. It was not limited to ...

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 earth and its inhabitants (1882) (14777595355)

The

style of the cathedral reflects that of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

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

influence in the facade on the ''

Plaza de Armas The ''Plaza de Armas'' (literally Weapons Square, but better translated as Parade Square or parade ground) is the name for Latin American main squares. In the central region of Mexico this space is known as El Zócalo and in Central America as ...

''. 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 croissing. 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 predomi ...

stone (a fine-grained volcanic rock chemically and mineralogically similar to diorite) The naves are covered with

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 cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

(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'' (

of art). This was a school that was built by the

to educate the

s and their descendants with the methods and disciplines of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

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

painters were limited to painting scenes of European and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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 Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants) Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...

painters. Here is a list of some of the most notable pieces found within the cathedral: *''Pintura

Señor de los Temblores ''Señor de los Temblores'' (in Quechua known as Taytacha Temblores, meaning Christ or Lord of the Earthquakes) is a 16th-century statue of the crucifixion of Jesus in Cusco Cathedral in Cusco, Peru. It is popularly believed to have reduced damag ...

''. 17th century large painting, which depicts the whole of Cusco during the 1650

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

. 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 Diego Quispe Tito (1611–1681) was a Quechua painter from Peru. He is considered the leader of the Cuzco School of painting. Background The son of a noble Inca family, Quispe Tito was born in Cuzco, and worked throughout his life in the distric ...

. There were initially twelve canvases (completed in 1681) to depict the twelve months and zodiac symbols of the year, incorporating the

parables A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

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 (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

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

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 Cusco Region 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Peru