Qorikancha: The Inca Temple of the Sun

This was the most sacred place in the Inca Empire. Every wall was covered in gold. Every chamber aligned with the movement of the sun. Then in 1533 everything changed. What you see today is what survived. This is Coricancha, the Temple of the Sun. I am walking around the exterior of Coricancha, the most important religious site of the Inca Empire. The structures visible today reflect two very different periods of history. At ground level are the original Inca walls, built in the 15th century, most likely during the reign of Pachacuti. Above them stands the Spanish church and convent of Santo Domingo, constructed after the Spanish conquest of Cusco in 1533. Here is the back of Coricancha with the perfect Inca wall. See how precisely they were able to cut these stones without steel or without iron. Actually, it is one of history's mysteries how the Inca were able to cut the stones so perfectly. Parts of Coricancha were preserved intentionally, not out of respect but as a visible demonstration of Spanish and Christian dominance over the Inca religion. This is the entrance to the Coricancha complex. Inside the complex, the surviving Inca chambers reveal the original function of the site. Coricancha was dedicated to Inti, the sun god, who occupied the highest position in the Inca religious system. Each chamber served a specific religious purpose. Here is a model of what Coricancha looked like during Incas. Note the gold. Some of the chambers in Coricancha were dedicated to the sun, others to the moon, Venus, the stars, and natural forces such as lightning and thunder. The surviving chambers demonstrate the Inca emphasis on structural integrity. Here is what used to be the sacred garden. Historical accounts describe life-sized representations of plants and animals made of gold and silver, arranged as offerings to the sun. None of these objects survive today. These are the surviving Inca chambers. And it should be noted that the walls were covered by sheets of gold and silver during the times of Inca. After the Spanish conquest, the gold was melted and shipped to Spain. Here we can see fusion. We can see Spanish construction and Inca construction. The Spanish, they would demolish the Inca structures and use the stones to build their own structures. This is one of the original Inca chambers. But this is what the Spaniards built. This is a Spanish chamber. This is what used to be the sacred garden. And here we have the remaining curved Inca wall. See how perfectly the stones were cut and fitted without the use of mortar and angled inward slightly to withstand earthquakes. Over the centuries, the Spanish structures were repeatedly damaged and demolished by earthquakes. But the Inca structures remain standing. It testifies to the genius of the Inca engineering. Like I said, each of these chambers were dedicated to different celestial bodies. The sun, the moon. And looking from the above, the organization of the complex becomes clearer. The Inca chambers were aligned intentionally, reinforcing the site's religious and astronomical functions. The Spanish convent now occupies the same footprint. Illustrating how colonial construction repurposed Inca sacred space rather than replacing it entirely. Here is a look at the courtyard of the convent. And here is the bell tower. From the top of the bell tower, the city of Cusco spreads out below. Cusco was the capital of the Inca empire and the center of its political and religious authority. Coricancha represents the religious center of the Inca world and the physical reality of Spanish conquest. It is one of the clearest examples in Cusco of how colonial power was imposed directly on existing indigenous belief systems. And now it concludes our video. If you like my content, hit like and subscribe. Thank you for watching.