The Staggering Coricancha Temple of the Sun in Cusco Peru — Cachi Life | Peru Tours | Peru Travel Experts

When visiting the Coricancha Sun Temple, there are twelve main sights that we recommend seeing inside.

The Temple of the Sun
This is the most important temple in the Koricancha. It encompasses more than half of the Church of Santo Domingo. During the Inca period, this temple was covered with gold and other precious metals.

The interior and exterior walls of the temple were covered in gold, which was considered the sweat of the sun, which was beaten into sheet plates. There were approximately 700 of these half-meter square sheets, each weighing 2 kg.

The Children of the Sun, which are embalmed mummies, continue to rest on chairs of gold at a golden table. It is a statue that represents the god Inti called Punchao, which means Day or Midday Sun. From his head and shoulders, the sun’s rays shine. He wore a royal headband and had snakes and lions coming out of his body.

The stomach of the statue was hollow and used to store the ashes of the vital organs of previous Inca rulers. Every day this statue was brought out into the open air and returned to the shrine each night.

The Temple of the Sun was the main altar where the god Inti represented the god Huiracocha, which was the main god of the Inca people. Unfortunately, most of the temple was destroyed by the Spanish to build the Santo Domingo Church.

The Temple of the Moon
Near the Temple of the Sun is the Temple of the Moon. This was considered to be the wife of the sun, Killa. The temple was beautifully lined with silver and decorated with images of the moon. The Temple of the Moon was also destroyed by the Spanish to make room for the Santo Domingo Church.

The Temple of Venus and the Stars
This was the center of worship of the stars for the Inca people. For the Inca the Sun was God, the Moon was his wife, and the stars were their children. The alley connecting the Temple of the Moon and the Stars was dedicated to Venus. Bone remains of auquénidos were found here. Therefore it is believed that animal sacrifice took place here.

The Rainbow Temple
This is a room that was also covered by gold during the Inca time and dedicated to the god, Cuichu. The upper part of the room is in the shape of a rainbow. This was important to the Inca because a rainbow required the Sun to be produced.

The Hall of Sacrifices
This room was named for the rock that was carved as a sacrificial table.

The Ray, Thunder, and Lightning Enclosure
This rectangular enclosure has 3 doors whose purpose is the worship of lightning and thunder. This temple is dedicated to the god, Illapa.

The Sacred Gardens or Sun Garden
This is a space of greenery that during the Inca times had gold and precious metal decorations. It contained a large field of corn and life-size models of shepherds, llamas, jaguars, guinea pigs, monkeys, birds, and even butterflies and insects were all made out of precious metal. Today, the only thing remaining is the gold corn stalks. It is currently able to be viewed from outside the temple.

The Gate or the Sacred Alley
This is a corridor that is surrounded by two finely carved stone walls.

The Fountains
In the original Coricancha, there were 5 different fountains and the origin of the water was a secret. Each fountain held a different religious significance, and as many of the other structures in the Coricancha, it was decorated with beautiful metals, such as gold and silver.

Santo Domingo Church
After the Spanish invaded, much of the Koricancha was destroyed and the Santo Domingo Monastery built over it.

Originally published at https://www.cachilife.com on October 26, 2020.