Half day
Cusco – Tipón – Pikillacta – Andahuaylillas – Cusco
Pickup and drive south of Cusco: the Flamenco Travel team will pick you up from your hotel in Cusco's historic center in the morning. We'll drive south of the city by tourist transport, through valley scenery, to our first stop.
Tipón: we'll visit Tipón, known as the Temple of Water and considered a masterpiece of Inca hydraulic engineering. It has thirteen farming terraces framed by polished stone walls, long stairways, royal buildings and stone-carved channels. These channels carried water from the heights of Pachatusan mountain down to the valley floor. Your Flamenco Travel guide will explain its irrigation system and the Inca worship of water.
Pikillacta: next we'll head to Pikillacta, an ancient walled city of the Wari culture, which predates the Incas. It covers about 50 hectares and is one of the best-preserved pre-Inca cities in Peru. Its name comes from the Quechua words piki and llaqta, and is usually translated as "town of fleas." There you'll see its walls, buildings and streets, and learn about its importance as a regional Wari center.
Andahuaylillas Church: we'll finish in the town of Andahuaylillas, at the Church of San Pedro Apóstol, known as the "Sistine Chapel of the Americas." Its interior is decorated from floor to ceiling with wood carvings, Cusco School paintings in gold-leaf frames, murals and Baroque altarpieces. In the baptistery you'll see an arch with an inscription in five languages: Latin, Spanish, Quechua, Aymara and Puquina.
Return to Cusco: after the visit we'll drive back to Cusco, arriving around 2:30 p.m. at your hotel or a central spot in the city, close to hotels and restaurants.
