Origins of Coricancha

Coricancha was the most important temple of the Inca Empire, in the capital, Cusco, dedicated primarily to the sun god, Inti. Spanish chroniclers described its walls as covered with sheets of gold and its courtyard decorated with golden figures, and the temple was the centre of the Inca ceremonial and calendar system. Its stonework is a high point of Inca masonry, with finely cut, tightly fitted blocks of andesite, built without mortar. After the Spanish conquest, the gold was looted and melted down, and the Dominicans built the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo on top of the Inca foundations. The Inca walls survived the earthquake of 1950, which damaged the later church, showing their solid engineering.

Open on the timeline