Ancient Cuzco

by Brian S. Bauer

  Besides containing a great hall, the Casana also featured two round towers, which stood on either side of the main entrance at the interior corners of a courtyard. In the early years of the Spanish occupation of the city, these towers were favored places for imprisoning leaders. For example, Almagro placed Hernando, Gonzalo, and Pedro Pizarro in the towers during the brief period in 1537 that he controlled Cuzco. In turn, Hernando Pizarro locked Almagro in one of the towers once he had regained control of the city (Pedro Pizarro 1921: 359, 366, 369, 382 [1571]). It is within the contexts of these descriptions of alternating Spaniards’ imprisonments that we gain our most detailed information on the towers.30 For example, Pedro Pizarro, who himself was held in one of the towers, describes the capture of Hernando Pizarro by Almagro:

  . . . where they [Almagro’s men] kept him [Hernando Pizarro] some days until a round tower was made ready in Caxana, houses where the Marquis Don Francisco Pizarro was and where Hernando Pizarro was when they took him prisoner. Then, having fortified this tower by closing up the windows and door, leaving a small hole through which a man could crawl, they put him there, walled up, as I say. This Caxana had two round towers, one on one side of the door and the other upon the other side, I mean almost at the corners of this square. These towers were of well made masonry and very strong. They were round, covered with straw very strangely placed thus. The straw eaves stood out beyond the wall more than a braza, so that the shelter of this eave favored the horsemen around the tower when it rained. The houses and rooms belonged to Guaina Capac.

  The Indians burned [the roofs of] these towers when they laid siege [to Cuzco] with burning arrows or stones. So thick was the thatch that it took eight days or more for it to be entirely burned, or, I should say, before the wooden framework fell. They had closed these towers [at the top] with thick beams of wood with earth above like azoteas [ornamental tiles]. In one of these they held Hernando Pizarro. (Pedro Pizarro 1921: 355–356 [1571])31

  Circular towers are rare features of Inca architecture. Though a round tower is known to have existed in Sacsayhuaman, and there may have been another round tower on the southern side of the Haucaypata plaza in central Cuzco, there do not seem to have been similar structures in Inca provincial centers. However, more recent constructions can provide us with a general idea of what the Casana towers might have looked like. Perhaps the best-known example is that of the Sondorhuaci recorded by Squier in the town of Azángaro in the Lake Titicaca Basin. This was a large multistory tower built in an interior corner of a large courtyard, like those described in the Casana. Squier’s photograph and etching of the structure (Photo 10.8 and Figure 10.4) show the outside of the tower. An anonymous artist, who was most likely traveling with Squier, also produced two watercolors of the Sondorhuaci, one of the exterior (Figure 10.5) and one of the interior (Figure 10.6).32 The latter is especially dramatic, showing the high ceiling and the interior framework of the thickly thatched roof. Unfortunately, the building no longer exists.

  PHOTO 10.8. The circular tower (Sondorhuaci) in the town of Azángaro in the Lake Titicaca Basin in 1865 (Courtesy of the Latin American Library, Tulane University; photograph by E. George Squier)

  FIGURE 10.4. The Sondorhuaci in Azángaro (Squier 1877: 394). Compare this etching with Photo 10.8.

  FIGURE 10.5. Anonymous field sketch of Sondorhuaci, n.d. (Denver Art Museum Collection: Gift of Fred A. Rosenstock, 1984.203.8; © Denver Art Museum 2004)

  FIGURE 10.6. Anonymous field sketch of the interior ceiling of the Sondorhuaci, n.d. (Denver Art Museum Collection: Gift of Fred A. Rosenstock, 1984.203.8; © Denver Art Museum 2004)

  In addition to its great hall and its two round towers, the entrance to the Casana also commanded the attention of the Spaniards. Estete (1924: 45 [1534]) notes:

  The plaza of the city was almost square, not large nor small. The house of Atahualpa (sic Huayna Capac) that is in it had two fine towers [and] a fine entranceway richly faced with pieces of silver and other metals.33 (Translation by author)

  Sancho, who was in Cuzco at the same time as Estete, was equally impressed with the entrance to the Casana, although he describes it differently:

  The plaza is rectangular, and the greater part of it is flat and paved with small stones. Around the plaza are four houses of noblemen, who are the chief men of the city; [the houses] are of stone, painted and carved, and the best of them is the house of Huayna Capac, a former chief, and the door of it is of marble [colored] white and red and of other colors; and there are other very sightly buildings with flat roofs. (Sancho 1917: 154 [1534])34

  The entrance to the Casana must have been very distinct, since Cobo includes it as a shrine within the ceque system. He also notes that the following shrine within the ceque system was a “lake” called Ticcicocha that was within the compound.

  [Ch-6:4] The fourth guaca had the name of Guayra and was in the doorway of Cajana. At it sacrifice was made to the wind so that it would not do damage, and a pit had been made there in which the sacrifices were buried.

  [Ch-6:5] The fifth guaca was the palace of Guayna Capac named Cajana, within which was a lake named Ticcicocha which was an important shrine and at which great sacrifices were made (Cobo 1990: 58 [1653: Bk. 13, Ch. 13])35

  Today, true to Garcilaso de la Vega’s description, the punctured walls of the Casana still stand on the northwest corner of the Plaza de Armas and serve as entrances to restaurants and shops (Photo 10.9).

  PHOTO 10.9. The punctured walls of the Casana still stand on the northwest corner of the Plaza de Armas and serve as entrances to restaurants and shops.

  The Coracora Compound

  A lesser-known compound called the Coracora was located beside the Casana. It was in this building that the first three Spaniards to see Cuzco stayed during their short time in the imperial capital (Betanzos 1996: 269 [1557: Ch. 25]). The Coracora is included in the Cuzco ceque system, where it is associated with Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui:36

  [Ch-5:5] The fifth guaca was a buhio [hut] named Coracora, in which Inca Yupanqui used to sleep, which is where the cabildo [municipal council] houses are now. This said Inca ordered worship of that place and burning of clothing and sheep in it, and so it was done. (Cobo 1990: 57 [1654: Bk. 13, Ch. 13])37

  We know the approximate location of the Coracora on the plaza and its destruction date (1548) through the writings of Garcilaso de la Vega and the Libro Primero del Cabildo . . . (1965 [1534]). In the latter, we learn that Gonzalo Pizarro was given a lot on the plaza between that of Francisco Pizarro (the Casana) and the “fort of Huascar.”38 Garcilaso de la Vega confirms that the Casana and the Coracora stood side by side on the plaza and that the Coracora was granted to Gonzalo Pizarro. Garcilaso de la Vega, however, associates the Coracora with Inca Roca, rather than Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui:

  Moving southward from the ward of the schools, we come to two others containing two royal palaces giving on to the main square. They filled the whole side of the square: one of them, to the east of the other, was called Coracora, “the pastures,” for the place used to be pasture and the square in front of it was a swamp or marsh until the Incas had it transformed to its present state. Cieza de León confirms this in his ch. xcii. In this pasture King Inca Roca established his royal palace to favor and assist the schools, where he often went to hear the masters. I saw nothing of the house called Coracora, for it had been razed by my time. When the city was divided among the Spaniards it fell to Gonzalo Pizarro, the brother of the marquis Don Francisco Pizarro. He was one of its conquerors. I knew this gentleman in Cuzco after the battle of Huarina [October 21, 1547] and before that of Sacsahuana [Jaquijahuana, April 9, 1548], and he treated me as if I were his own son. I was then about eight or nine. (Garcilaso de la Vega 1966: 425 [1609: Pt. 1, Bk. 7, Ch. 10])39

  Elsewhere, Garcilaso de la Vega states that he witnessed the demolition of the Coracora after Gonzalo Pizarro’s failed revolt against the king of Spain. The revolt ended with Gonzalo’s defeat at Jaquijahuana and his immediate execution
:

  They sentenced Pizarro to be beheaded as a traitor; his houses in Cuzco were pulled down and the site sown with salt, and a stone pillar was erected with an inscription reading: “This is the house of the traitor Gonzalo Pizarro,” etc.

  I saw all this carried out. The houses were those granted to him in the allocations of Cuzco, when he and his brothers conquered the city. The place is called Coracora, or “meadow” in the Indian tongue. (Garcilaso de la Vega 1966: 1202 [1609: Pt. 2, Bk. 5, Ch. 39])40

  Zárate (1995: 374 [1555]) also notes the destruction of Gonzalo’s houses in Cuzco and the inscription that was then placed on the salted land.41 Because of this Carthaginian act, nothing remains of the Coracora today.

  East Side of the Plaza

  When the Spaniards arrived in Cuzco, there were several important structures on the east side of the plaza. At the northeast corner were a series of steep terraces on which various Spaniards made their homes (Libro Primero del Cabildo . . . 1965 [1534]). Above them was the palace of Huascar for which, unfortunately, we have no detailed information. The palace must have been impressive, since Diego de Almagro, second in command after Francisco Pizarro, took it as his prize during the establishment of Spanish Cuzco. It is possible that this palace was located on the spot where the Casa de la Admiral (now the Archaeological Museum) was later founded.

  A structure near the southeast corner of the plaza was selected by Pizarro to serve as a temporary church. Some writers suggest that this location was selected for the church following the siege of Cuzco, during which it was spared from burning by the divine intervention of either Santiago or the Virgin Mary. The Libro Primero del Cabildo . . . (1965: 33 [1534]) indicates, however, that the spot had already been selected by Pizarro as the site of the church before the fighting between the Spaniards and the local population began. After the siege, a permanent chapel called El Triunfo (The Triumph),42 which still stands today, was constructed on this location (Photo 10.10).

  PHOTO 10.10. After the siege, a permanent chapel called “El Triunfo” (The Triumph) was constructed on the southeast corner of the plaza. (Courtesy of Fototeca Andina–Centro Bartolomé de Las Casas; photograph by Miguel Chani, ca. 1920)

  In the area near the church was another structure for which we have little information. The Libro Primero del Cabildo . . . (1965 [1534]) indicates that this building was called Uchullo and that it was granted to the first Chief Magistrate of Cuzco, Beltrán de Castro. From Murúa (1962: 77 [ca. 1615: Vol. 1, Ch. 26]), we learn that the Uchullo was the palace of Huayna Capac before the construction of the Casana. There appear to be no other references to this once important building.

  PHOTO 10.11. The Cuzco cathedral was built on the location of one of the great halls that bordered the central plaza of Cuzco.

  Near the center of the east side of the plaza stood a large hall. Almagro and numerous other Spaniards were housed in this hall when they first entered Cuzco (Pedro Pizarro 1921: 250 [1571]), and it later became the site of the first municipal council house. In the Libro Primero del Cabildo . . . (1965: 33 [1534]) we read, “Chosen for the municipal council house and foundry is the large hall that is on the terrace above the plaza.”43 The hall was destroyed in 1559 when the construction of the Cuzco cathedral was begun under the direction of Polo de Ondegardo. To gain additional space for the cathedral, the front half of it was built extending out into the plaza. It was during this process that Polo de Ondegardo discovered that the plaza was covered with a layer of sand.

  Blas Valera (1950: 144 [ca. 1585]) states that the large hall on the east side of the plaza was a temple for the Creator god, Titi Viracocha. Several other sources, however, indicate that the temple of Titi Viracocha was located farther to the south, in the area of Pucamarca.44 Garcilaso de la Vega helps to resolve the confusion by indicating that the hall was the palace of Viracocha Inca (the eighth Inca), a name that could have been confused by Blas Valera with Titi Viracocha. When describing the siege of Cuzco, Garcilaso de la Vega writes:

  The bravest Indians, who had been picked to burn the house of Inca Viracocha where the Spaniards were lodged, attacked it vigorously and set fire to it from a distance with their incendiary arrows: it was burnt down and not a trace of it remains. The great hall inside it, where the cathedral now is, and where the Christians then had a chapel to hear mass, was saved by our Lord from the flames. . . . (Garcilaso de la Vega 1966: 799 [1609: Pt. 2, Bk. 2, Ch. 24])45

  Given the available historical data, it seems likely that the palace of Inca Viracocha stood on the east side of the plaza. This compound was partially burned during the siege of Cuzco and was completely pulled down by Polo de Ondegardo with the construction of the Cuzco cathedral (Photo 10.11).46

  The Amarucancha Compound

  On the southwest corner of the plaza, near the Saphy River, stood the Amarucancha (Enclosure of the Serpent). Several writers suggest that Huascar built this complex during his short period of rule (ca. 1528–1532).47 If this is the case, then the Amarucancha was the last royal palace to be constructed in the imperial city. The structure must have been of considerable importance, because it was awarded to Hernando de Soto, one of the highest-ranking members of Pizarro’s expedition, during the division of central Cuzco. In this respect, it is worth noting that in the Libro Primero del Cabildo . . . (1965: 35 [1534]) we find that a soldier named Pedro de Ulloa was granted a lot adjacent to where the palla (noblewoman) of Hernando de Soto was staying.48 This palla was Huascar’s daughter, Cori Cuillor (Golden Star), with whom de Soto would have a daughter named Leonor de Soto.

  Despite the fact that much of the Amarucancha survived the fires of the siege, we know little about this complex. Pedro Pizarro (1921: 250–251 [1571]) reports that it was where de Soto first stayed when he arrived in Cuzco, and at that time some of its rooms were used for the ancient kings. Garcilaso de la Vega provides a more detailed description of the complex and indicates that there was a round tower in front of it:

  At the end of the square to its south, there were two other royal houses, one that was near the stream, and opposite it, called Amarucancha, “ward of the great snakes.” It faced Cassana and was the palace of Huaina Capac; it now belongs to the holy Society of Jesus.49 I remember seeing still a great hall, though not so large as that of Cassana. I also saw a very fine round tower which stood in the square before the house. Elsewhere we shall speak of this tower, which was the first lodging of the Spaniards in the city, and for this reason, apart from its great beauty, it would have been well if the conquerors had preserved it. I saw no other remains of this palace: all the rest was razed. In the first division the main part of this palace, giving on to the square, fell to Hernando Pizarro, the brother of the marquis Don Francisco Pizarro, who was also one of the first conquerors of the city. I saw this gentleman in the court of Madrid in 1562. Another part fell to Mancio Serra de Leguiçamo,50 one of the first conquerors.51 A further part was awarded to Antonio Altamirano, who had two houses when I knew him: he must have bought one of them.52 A further part was set aside as the prison for Spaniards. Still another part was given to Alonso Mazuela, one of the first conquerors, and later passed to Martín Dolmos. Other sections fell to others whom I do not recall. (Garcilaso de la Vega 1966: 426–427 [1609: Pt. 1, Bk. 7, Ch. 10])53

  Garcilaso de la Vega commits an understandable mistake in suggesting that the Amarucancha was awarded to Hernando Pizarro, and not to Hernando de Soto, during the founding of Spanish Cuzco. Hernando Pizarro did not receive any land when central Cuzco was divided up by the Spaniards because he was then in route to Spain to present King Charles the crown’s portion of Atahualpa’s ransom. De Soto’s holdings at Amarucancha were, however, later taken by Hernando Pizarro in 1536 after de Soto had left Peru and Hernando Pizarro had returned to take charge of Cuzco. The legality of this seizure became the focus of a suit filed by his daughter, Leonor de Soto, against Hernando Pizarro (see below).

  Garcilaso de la Vega is correct in stating that various Spaniards received land in th
e Amarucancha during the founding of Spanish Cuzco. His assertion that Antonio Altamirano settled in this part of Cuzco is supported by the Libro Primero del Cabildo . . . (1965 [1534]).54 Elsewhere in his chronicle, Garcilaso de la Vega provides two additional passages that contain information on the Amarucancha and Antonio Altamirano. When discussing the idolatry of the Inca, he states that the Inca worshiped objects and locations that had been struck by lighting. In this context, Garcilaso de la Vega notes:

  All this I saw in Cuzco, for in the royal house that had belonged to the Inca Huaina Cápac (sic Huascar), in the part of it that fell to Antonio Altamirano when the city was divided among the conquerors, there was a room where a thunderbolt had fallen in the days of Huaina Cápac. The Indians shut the doors with stone and mud and took it as an ill omen upon their king, . . . I beheld the closed room. The Spaniards later rebuilt it, and within three years another bolt struck the same room and burnt it all up. (Garcilaso de la Vega 1966: 69 [1609: Pt. 1, Bk. 2, Ch. 1])55

  PHOTO 10.12. With the construction of the Jesuit church, most of the Amarucancha was destroyed.

  Garcilaso de la Vega also mentions that a hoard of gold and silver objects were accidentally found in the Amarucancha:

  When the houses in the city were shared out among the Spaniards, it happened that in one of them, a royal palace called Amarucancha which fell to Antonio Altamirano, a horseman was galloping in the yard, when his horse sank its foot into a hole, which had not previously been there. When they went to look at the hole to see if it was the bed of some former stream passing under the house, they found that it was the mouth of a golden jar holding eight or nine arrobas. These jars are made in various sizes by the Indians to serve as vats for brewing their drink. It was accompanied by many silver and gold vessels to a value of over 80,000 ducats. (Garcilaso de la Vega 1966: 749 [1609: Pt. 2, Bk. 2, Ch. 7])56