Cuzco, Peru | Off the walls
In a transit town, discovering interlocking stones and miracle juices while on a quest for a mysterious sexy woman
The what?” Maulik asked, confused.
“The Sexy Woman.” I repeated.
“We’re going to see a sexy woman?”
I nodded.
“Lead the way,” he said, chuckling.
So I did. But before we could see the sexy woman, my husband Maulik and I would have to walk through the Plaza de Armas, the teeming city centre of Cuzco. The square was lined on all four sides by souvenir stores, travel agencies, cafés, hostales (inns), restaurants and bars. Some hawkers peddled grainy postcards and loose cigarettes on street corners. Others roamed the footpaths, their arms and shoulders laden with handwoven fleece-wear. They haggled spiritedly with tourists over prices of colourful gloves, caps and scarves.
Bedraggled backpackers with stubbles and dreadlocks swarmed the square and the narrow streets surrounding it, as did sprightly, grey-haired retirees with cashmere sweaters and fancy DSLR cameras around their necks. In their midst were the two of us, in our quest for the sexy woman.
******
As we walked the city’s ancient streets and took in the curious blend of pre-Columbian and colonial architecture, examining the spectacular engineering of its walls—we rapidly began to realize that we were in the presence of great history and craftsmanship.
From the 13th century to 1532, Cuzco was the capital of the Incan empire which extended up and down the Andes—from Ecuador, across Bolivia and all the way to Chile. Spanish conquistadors’ preliminary exploratory trips had revealed that great quantities of gold and riches were to be found here. In 1533, led by conquistador Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish defeated the Incan ruler Atahualpa and captured the city of Cuzco.
Soon after, the Spanish razed Inca temples, buildings and palaces, and built churches and mansions in their place. But the Incan stonework and engineering was so exquisite that they retained some walls to use as foundations for their own constructions.
It was this unique layered architecture that had struck us as we first made our way from our hostal to the Plaza de Armas. Colonial mansions with their terracotta roofs and balconies built on top of magnificent Inca walls loomed over the cobblestoned street of Hatun Rumiyoc, which in Quechua means “big stone”.
The mammoth polygonal stones that constituted the Incan walls of the houses around us fit together precisely like so many bricks. Only, there was not a pinch of mortar to be seen in between the smoothly interlocking stones. Made with an ancient technique that is now forever lost to the world, these stones were like perfectly assembled pieces of a complicated jigsaw puzzle.
At a corner, young boys loitered about, eager to point out the stone to tourists before they could spot it for themselves, in exchange for a small tip. A man, dressed up in royal Inca regalia, complete with a golden crown, a red cape and a sceptre, beckoned to us to take a picture with him and the stone, but we hurried along, for we had to get to the sexy woman before sundown.
******
In 1536, following the Spanish conquest of Cuzco, the Incas had tried to win the city back by laying siege to it. During this unsuccessful siege, much of the fighting happened around Sacsayhuamán—which was a vast labyrinth of terraces, towers, storage rooms, and a large central plaza. Though used as a fortress in the siege, it was once believed to be a ceremonial centre for the worship of the Sun.
After the siege, the Spaniards used Sacsayhuamán as a source of stones for building a new Cuzco. The site was torn down, one stone at a time, to build churches, government buildings and mansions for wealthy Spaniards. Only the stones that were too heavy to be moved remain here today. But they are enough to give one an idea of the extent of the Incas’ mastery over their craft. The stones used in the construction of these terraces, like those in Hatun Rumiyoc, are so snugly interlocked together that a single feather would not fit in between them. It is believed that the accuracy of their engineering, combined with the way the walls lean inwards helped the ruins survive the earthquakes that are so common in this part of Peru.
As Maulik and I made our way downhill, we wondered how the stones must have been carved, moulded and transported up the hill. Back at the Plaza de Armas, we were exhausted but also exhilarated at having found such a mystery in a place where we’d least expected to. As we wandered by the juice bar we’d seen before, I wondered if it offered a concoction for tired feet, because then it would really be a day for surprises.
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First Published:24 Aug 2013, 12:09 AM IST
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