Koricancha or Qoricancha; (The temple of the Sun) is located in the southern part of the city of Cusco, called the "Hurin Qosqo". The temple is surrounded by the Square of Santo Domingo, Ahuacpinta street, Av. Sol, and the Pumacchupan (now Garcilaso Street). If you see it from the South, it looks like a large pyramid, because the temple was built on a natural hill that was in its time the main Huaca (temple). Below the temple are the rivers Saphy and Tullumayo which flow into the drainage ditch at the edge of the temple. Koricancha, in the Quechua language means "gold enclosure". It was the main Inca temple built in Cusco City, called "The Temple Of Inti" (the supreme god-the sun). Commonly today; it is called (The Temple Of The Sun). Koricancha; (The Temple Of The Sun) is NOT the first temple of the Inca Empire. It was a small temple which was located on a hill called Huanacauri, in the Southern part of the city. Later on, after the Valley Of Cusco was occupied, the Incas built another temple called the Inticancha (Enclosure of the Sun), Tourists often confuse these temples. Qoricancha was built during the reign of the Inca Wiracocha about the year 1200 A.D., and later on the Inca Pachacutec embellished the temple. Near to the temple there were many other buildings like the palace of Kusicancha, the Inticancha Plaza, the Palace of Huayna Ccapac, and the Inn of Kunturpata. The walls are trapezoidal with the vertical inclination that is typical of Inca architecture. This shape also enables the walls to withstand earthquakes. The Incas were truely master stone masons. The stones were perfectly joined so that not even a needle could penetrate the space in between. The floors were made also made of stone and in some rooms they had their floors covered with compacted clay and earth. In other rooms, dust was used to cover the floors. Each of their supreme beings, the God Wiracocha, the Sun, the Moon and Stars and the mother Pachamama, had their own individual rooms inside the Qoricancha temple. Both priests and acllas lived inside the temple. The acllas were selected women to honor or serve the Sun, they were called "Women of the Sun". These women kept a permanent fire, day and night inside the temple and wove clothing used by the nobility. It is said that inside the temple the walls and doors of the rooms were covered with gold and silver plates. Upon entering a small courtyard, there was an image of the Sun, made of gold. In this chapel, under the figure of the sun, there were the embalmed bodies of the past rulers and Incas, seated upon golden chairs. Only Huayna Ccapac was in front of the figure of the Sun, facing East. The morning sun would fill the room with its' light. Inside Qoricancha was a room called the "Solar Drum". In front of this room, was a fruit garden, or a garden of gold, with golden corns, trees, animals, fruit, butterflies, birds, and tools for the land. It is said that Pachacutec cultivated the land. According to the chronicler Santa Cruz Pachacuti; the images in the room represented the Inca's vision of the cosmos. In these drawings were the god Wiracocha, the Sun, the Moon, Venus, the Rainbow, the Lightning, a man and a woman, a tree and stars. Many of Cusco's streets converged into the small plaza called Intipampa, where the sacred ceremonies took place, with dances and sacrifices in honor of the Sun God. It's said that only the nobility could enter Intipampa and that no women were allowed. In the XVI century, the Catholic church was built over. This was done to further subject the native people to the Spanish and the Roman Catholic Church. The Spaniards destroyed most of the sacred temples, taking away the gold treasures of the place, melting down most of the precious metal objects found there in order to be distributed among the Spanish conquerors. One fifth of the gold and other wealth was sent to the King of Spain so that he could pay for the wars in Europe that he was waging. All of these people and organizations should be ashamed for the destruction and suffering that they caused in the name of God but mainly for their own greed. In our travels in the America's; we find a great deal of resentment toward these individuals and organizations for the destruction that they caused to the people of the America's. In 1950 an earthquake destroyed some of the Convent of Santo Domingo and during reconstruction; the outside walls of the Qoricancha were in good enough condition to be left in place and today are original works. The inside walls have been reconstructed from the original Inca stones. We were at Qoricancha at about 5:17 PM on the afternoon of April 18, 2006 and again at about 5:00 AM April 19, 2006.

The first choice of where to go in order to visit Qoricancha, near Cusco, Peru is to fly in to Cusco, Peru. The Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport (IATA: CUZ, ICAO: SPZO) is located in the city of Cusco, in southeastern Peru. Cusco is a principal tourist attraction in Latin America, and it receives various domestic flights as well as some international flights. There are several really nice hotels in Cusco. There are also several Guided Tour Agencies offering standard city, and archaeological tours of Cusco and the surrounding area. This page is for information purposes only and while we have made every effort to be accurate, it is the travelers responsibility to make the appropriate choice as to which hotels to use in Peru. We found that when touring Peru, Magical Cusco Tours gave us the best service of all. They even arranged very personal tours based upon our ages and experience. They were there for us whenever we needed them. Click on any of their links on our pages and they will give you a 4% discount for taking their package tours. Mention delange.org. Merchant Code Inka2010 for your discount! We suggest letting Ana Maria handle your tour. Note: The 4% discount applies to package tours only! Discount does not apply to hotel bookings, domestic or international tickets, meals or any other service booked as a single activity. Magical Cusco Tours also has a culinary tour that you may enjoy.Click Here For: Taste Of Peru.com their culinary tour page. We also have links to Priceline.Com on our pages, in case you may prefer to use their services.