Ancient Cuzco

by Brian S. Bauer

  Pizarro and his men entered the central plaza and immediately occupied the various royal compounds that surrounded it. After installing Manco Inca as the new ruler of the Inca Empire, the Spaniards began a more systematic looting of the city than had been conducted during the rushed visit of the advance party. The recovered wealth from this second looting of Cuzco was even greater than that assembled in Cajamarca. Sancho (1917: 128–129 [1534]) provides the best description of the wealth that resulted from this monumental event:

  Truly it was a thing worthy to be seen, this house where the melting took place, all full of so much gold in plates of eight and ten pounds each, and in vessels, and vases and pieces of various forms with which the lords of that land were served, and among other very slightly things were four sheep in fine gold and very large, and ten or twelve figures of women of the size of the women of that land, all of fine gold and as beautiful and well made as if they were alive. . . . The Governor divided and distributed all this treasure among all the Spaniards who were at Cuzco and those who remained in the city of Xauxa . . . (Sancho 1917: 128–129 [1534])13

  The following March, Francisco Pizarro took formal control of the imperial city of the Inca, claiming it as a Spanish town. In doing so, he divided the most important compounds of the central city into house lots and distributed them among his men according to their rank. Sancho describes this event:

  In the month of March 1534, the Governor ordered that the greater part of the Spaniards he had with him should be assembled in this city, and he made an act of foundation and settlement of the town saying that he placed it and founded it in his own authority, and he took possession of it in the middle of the plaza. . . . And continuing the settlement, he appointed the site for the church which was to be built, its boundaries, limits and jurisdiction, and immediately afterwards he proclaimed that all who might come to settle here would be received as citizens . . . (Sancho 1917: 130–131 [1534])14

  The looting of Cuzco by the Spaniards, its division into house lots, and the abusive treatment of Manco Inca by Pizarro and his men led to a native revolt. Manco Inca escaped from Spanish control and organized a massive attack on Cuzco. During this siege, which lasted for several months, much of the city was burned to the ground. The siege came to an unsuccessful end when Diego de Almagro returned from Chile and reinforced the troops of Hernando Pizarro. Reluctantly, Manco Inca pulled his army from the area and retreated into the mountains to the northwest.

  As the Spaniards slowly rebuilt Cuzco following the siege, it was transformed. European institutions were established and new architectural styles were introduced. Most of the temples and palaces of the city center were destroyed, and churches, governmental buildings, and commercial districts were constructed on their foundations. It was a slow process that continues to this day. Although much of Inca Cuzco has now been lost, by combining information contained within various historical sources with the surviving architectural remains in the city, we can gain some idea of its ancient form and what it was like at the time of contact.

  The Plazas of Central Cuzco

  Cuzco developed between two small rivers, the Saphy and Tullumayu (Map 10.1 and Photo 10.2). Within the city, and for some distance outside, the banks of these rivers were walled and canalized (Photo 10.3) and the water flowed over flat paving stones (Sancho 1917: 153 [1534]). Numerous bridges crossed the two rivers (Figure 10.1), and offerings were made each year at their confluence (Bauer 1998: 118–119). These features of Cuzco remained visible until the 1930s, when the rivers were covered over to create modern streets.

  One of the most imposing features of Inca Cuzco was the great plaza that stood near its center (Hyslop 1990: 37). The plaza, spanning both sides of the Saphy River, was composed of two sacred spaces. The area to the west of the river was called Cusipata,15 and the area to the east was referred to as Haucaypata.16 These two areas played distinctly different roles within the life of the city.17

  MAP 10.1. Map of Inca Cuzco

  PHOTO 10.2. The city of Cuzco in the 1930s (Courtesy of the Latin American Library, Tulane University; photograph by Emilio Harth-Terré)

  FIGURE 10.1. Stone bridge in Cuzco (Squier 1877: 432)

  THE PLAZA OF HAUCAYPATA

  Haucaypata, or what is now called the Plaza de Armas, was of great importance to the Inca. Thousands of people gathered in it several times a year to attend the elaborate festivals of the city and to see the ruling Inca (Map 10.2 and Photo 10.4). These festivals included, among others, the June and December solstices as well as the August (planting) and May (harvest) celebrations for maize. At these times, the mummified remains of the previous Cuzco rulers were taken from their own palaces and set, in order of their rule, in the plaza. The palaces of these ancient kings were among the many important compounds that surrounded the plaza of Haucaypata on three sides.

  Polo de Ondegardo reduced the size of Haucaypata in 1559 by approximately 30 percent as he began building the Cuzco cathedral. During this construction project, he discovered that the plaza contained a thick layer of coastal sand. This sand was of great interest to him, not only because it contained numerous offerings, but also because by extracting and reusing the sand he could reduce the cost of the cathedral construction and diminish the sanctity of the Inca plaza. His observations on the plaza are worth quoting at length:

  And thus they stated that all of the plaza of Cuzco had its own earth removed from it, and it was taken to other places because it was greatly esteemed, and they covered it over with sand from the seacoast to a depth of two palms and a half, and in some places more. They planted in every part of it many gold and silver vases and tiny sheep and men of the same materials, of which a great quantity have been removed, which we have all seen. The entire plaza was of this sand when I went to govern that city, and, if it is true that that sand was brought from where they say and have in their records, it seems to me that it would be so much that the entire country as a whole had to know about it, because the plaza is large and the number of loads brought into it was countless, and the coast at the nearest point is more than 90 leagues, as I think it to be. I satisfied myself as to that, because everyone says that that type of sand does not exist short of the coast. I made all the inquiries possible, both among Indians and among Spaniards, inquiring about the reason for which it was brought, and they said that it must have been out of reverence for Tizibriacocha, [Titi Viracocha] to whom they mainly offer their sacrifices . . .

  And it is thus, that, breaking the ground for the principal church of Cuzco, the sand which was found thereabouts being poor and distant, the masons said that if that of the plaza were not taken the cost would be very great, because what was found was poor and difficult to get. I thus had all of it removed, which was a great quantity, and we leveled it with other soil, which the Indians there regretted much in their opinions and would not pay poorly if we would include in the price leaving the plaza as it had been, which, after I had learned of it, I gave it with the best will to the church, and there is no doubt but that it was worth more than 4000 castellanos, because it would have cost much more to bring it and would not have been profitable and with it I built four masonry bridges in the same river of the city, in which much labor was saved, and much expense because it was a great quantity, and other works which were usefully built there. And the main thing was that it took away from them the great reverence which they had for that plaza . . . (Polo de Ondegardo 1965: 118–119 [1571])18

  PHOTO 10.3. In Inca times, the rivers within Cuzco were walled and canalized. Many of these constructions lasted until the 1930s, when the rivers were covered over to create modern streets. (Courtesy of Fototeca Andina–Centro Bartolomé de Las Casas; photograph by Hermanos Cabrera, ca. 1920)

  MAP 10.2. Central Cuzco in Inca times

  PHOTO 10.4. The Plaza de Armas in 1994. In Inca times, the entire plaza area was covered with a thick layer of sand.

  Polo de Ondegardo notes that there were many miniature figurines buried in the plaza benea
th the sand. They are also mentioned by Betanzos (1996: 48–49 [1557: Ch. 11]). In 1996, during a renovation of the central fountain of the Plaza de Armas, a set of three miniature llamas19 was recovered by INC archaeologists (Fernández Carrasco, personal communication, 1998).

  Near the center of Haucaypata was a standing stone called an ushnu (platform). Ushnus were built by the Inca in the plazas of many Inca installations, such as Huánuco Pampa, Vilcashuamán, and Curamba, to name only a few. Generally, ushnus were square, multitiered platforms, with a staircase leading up one side. They functioned as viewing platforms on which the Inca and other elites conducted important rituals. The Cuzco ushnu seems, however, to have taken a very different form.20 It is described by a number of individuals as a standing stone, or pillar, covered with gold.21 For example, Albornoz (1984: 205 [ca. 1582]) writes, “Usno was a pillar of gold where they drank to the Sun in the plaza.”22 At the foot of this stone was a basin into which liquid offerings, especially corn beer, were poured. This basin must have been impressive, since it is described by Pedro Pizarro (1921: 252 [1571]), Betanzos (1987: 48–49 [1557: Pt. 1, Ch. 11]), and Molina (1989: 74, 79 [ca. 1575]). It is widely believed that acts of ritual pouring took place in the center of most Inca plazas, and evidence of a similar basin has recently been found in an Inca plaza on the Island of the Sun (Bauer and Stanish 2001).

  THE PLAZA OF CUSIPATA

  Across the river from the plaza of Haucaypata was the plaza of Cusipata. Although indigenous writers, such as Guaman Poma de Ayala, continued calling the plaza area on the west side of the Saphy River “Cusipata” well into the seventeenth century, the Spaniards soon began to refer to it using the central Mexican Nahuatl word for market, “Tianquez” (see Libro Primero del Cabildo de la Ciudad del Cuzco 1965 [1534]; Betanzos 1996: 13 [1557: Bk. 1, Ch. 3]; Dean 1999: 225). This suggests that part of the plaza was dedicated to a market during Inca times, such as was seen in the plaza of Xauxa when the Spaniards marched through it in 1533 (Photo 10.5; Estete 1985: 144 [1534]).

  Of the original Cusipata, now called the Plaza de Regocijo, only a small percentage survives (Photo 10.6 and Figure 10.2). In 1548 the Municipal Council granted permission for houses and shops to be constructed along the Saphy River that separated the two open areas (Dean 1999: 30). A few years later, in 1556, when the father of the famous writer Garcilaso de la Vega (1966: 545 [1609: Pt. 1, Bk. 9, Ch. 1]) was the Chief Magistrate of Cuzco, additional buildings were placed along the river. During the Colonial Period, the Royal Treasury (now the Hotel Cuzco) was built on the eastern half of the plaza, reducing its dimensions even more.

  PHOTO 10.5. Northeast corner of the Plaza de Armas during a market day, ca. 1900 (Courtesy of the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, photographer unknown, Negative 96 25 3)

  PHOTO 10.6. The Plaza de Regocijo. Compare this photograph with the etching shown in Figure 10.2. (Courtesy of the Latin American Library, Tulane University; photograph by E. George Squier, 1865)

  FIGURE 10.2. Squier’s (1877:450) etching of the Plaza de Regocijo

  The Casana Compound

  Perhaps the most splendid palace on the central plaza of Cuzco was the Casana. Francisco Pizarro stayed in this royal compound when he first arrived in the imperial city, and he selected it as his architectural prize during the division of Cuzco among the Spaniards a little more than a year later. The Casana stood at the northwest corner of Haucaypata, beside the Saphy River (Photo 10.7). Although Garcilaso de la Vega suggests that it was the palace of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, a host of other writers indicate that it was built for Huayna Capac.23 For example, Cobo (1979: 161 [1653: Bk. 11, Ch. 17]) specifically mentions that the mummy of Huayna Capac was held in the Casana.

  As Niles (1999: 232) notes, the Casana consisted of a number of impressive structures encircled by a large wall. Garcilaso de la Vega (1966: 321 [1609: Pt. 1, Bk. 6, Ch. 40]) indicates that the Casana held the largest festival hall in Cuzco, one that was capable of holding some three thousand persons. He states that this was one of four great halls that still stood around the plaza when he was a boy living in Cuzco.

  In many of the Inca’s houses there were large halls some two hundred paces in length and fifty to sixty in breadth. They were unpartitioned and served as places of assembly for festivals and dances when the weather was too rainy to permit them to hold these in the open air. In the city of Cuzco I saw four of these halls, which were still standing when I was a boy. One was in Amarucancha, among the houses that belonged to Hernando Pizarro, where the college of the Holy Society of Jesus now is. The second was at Cassana, where my old schoolmate Juan de Cellorico now has his shops. The third was at Collcampata in the house formerly belonging to the Inca Paullu and his son Don Carlos, who was also a schoolfellow of mine. This was the smallest of the four halls, and the largest was that of Cassana, which was capable of holding three thousand persons. It seems incredible that timber could have been found to cover such vast halls. The fourth is that which now serves as the cathedral church. (Garcilaso de la Vega 1966: 320–321 [1609: Pt. 1, Bk. 6, Ch. 4])24

  PHOTO 10.7. The northwest corner of the Plaza de Armas where the Casana once stood

  Later in his chronicle, Garcilaso de la Vega provides an even more detailed account of the great hall in the Casana. He states that it was large enough to hold a jousting match and that he witnessed both its brief use as a convent (around AD 1555) and its final destruction as shops were built on the plaza.

  The other royal palace, to the west of Coracora, was called Cassana, “something to freeze.” The name was applied to it out of wonder, implying that the buildings in it were so large and splendid that anyone who gazed on them attentively would be frozen with astonishment. . . . I saw in my time a great part of the walls of the building called Cassana, which were of finely worked masonry, showing that it had been a royal dwelling, as also a splendid hall which the Incas used for festivals and dances in rainy weather. It was so large that sixty mounted men could easily joust with canes in it.

  I saw the convent to St. Francis established in this hall, for it was moved from the ward of Totocachi, where it had formerly been, owing to the great distance of the latter from the houses of the Spaniards. A large section of the hall, big enough to hold many people, was set apart as a church; then there were the cells, the dormitory and the refectory and remaining dependencies of the convent, and if the inside had not been roofed, a cloister could have been made too. The hall and all the necessary space was presented to the friars by Juan de Pancorvo, one of the first conquerors, to whom the royal mansion fell in the distribution of the houses.25 Many other Spaniards had shares in them, but Juan de Pancorvo bought them all at the very first, when they were given away for a song. . . . I also saw the hall destroyed, and the modern shops with doorways for merchants and craftsmen built in the ward of Cassana. (Garcilaso de la Vega 1966: 425–426 [1609: Pt. 1, Bk. 7, Ch. 10])26

  Pedro Pizarro offers additional information on the great hall within Casana as he describes the seizure of Cuzco from Hernando Pizarro by Almagro in April of 1537:

  Hernando Pizarro had with him some friends in a galpón27 where he was living, a very large one with an entrance at one end of the room from which could be seen the whole interior, for the doorway is so wide that it extends from one wall to the other, and it is open up to the roof. These Indians have these galpones for their orgies. They have others with the ends closed up and provided with many doors in the middle or to one side. These galpones are very large, without any partitions, being instead open and clear. While Hernando Pizarro was in this galpón, in the midst of the houses where he lived . . . Almagro and his men, arrived at this door with the intention of taking him prisoner . . . and seeing that Hernando Pizarro did not intend to surrender, he ordered that [the roof of] this galpón where Hernando Pizarro was, be set on fire, for it was of straw, and until it began to fall in flames, never would Hernando Pizarro have wished to give himself up. (Pedro Pizarro 1921:353–354 [1571])28

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p; This passage indicates that the assembly hall in the Casana had a large doorway at one end.29 Guaman Poma de Ayala (1980: 303 [1615: 331 (332)]) depicts such a hall on the left-hand side of his illustration of royal Inca houses (Figure 10.3). He labels it as Cuyus Mango and shows a hunchbacked individual guarding the entrance. Given the form of the hall, a long rectangle with a large entrance at one end, it is easy to understand why the Franciscans would select it as a temporary location for their church.

  FIGURE 10.3. Illustration of royal Inca houses by Guaman Poma de Ayala (1980: 303 [1615: 331 (332)]). The caption reads: “Royal palaces [,] House of the Inca [called] Cusimanco.” Below the caption are a variety of structures. In the background is a series of buildings with corbel arches labeled “Storehouses (churacona uaci),” midframe is a structure with a pointed roof labeled “Canopy House (carpa uaci)” and a ∪-shaped structure labeled “Curved House (quenco uaci).” To the left is a large assembly hall with a single entrance at one end labeled “Cuyus Mango.” In the doorway sits a hunchbacked guard (cumo, punco camayoc). In the foreground, a round tower (suntor uaci) is also shown.