Temple of Wiracocha
Stone and adobe.
Pierre André Leclercq — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ellywa — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pierre André Leclercq — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Nick Jewell — CC BY 2.0 · Pierre André Leclercq — CC BY-SA 4.0
An Inca site about 3,480 metres up in the Vilcanota valley, best known for the remains of the Temple of Wiracocha, the Inca creator god: a huge central wall about 92 metres long rising more than 14 metres, built of fine Inca stone at the base and mud brick above, among the tallest buildings the Incas left. On either side of the wall are rows of round columns that once held up a vast roof, their stone bases and some mud sections still standing. The site was a key point on the Inca royal road from Cusco to Lake Titicaca and is enclosed by a wall about four kilometres long. Behind the temple are long rows of round stone storehouses, where grain and supplies were kept for the army and travellers, their repeated shapes among the fields one of the site's finest sights. Nearby are Inca houses and fountains. Tourist buses between Cusco and Puno stop at Raqchi, an easy way to see it. In the neighbouring village of Raqchi, locals make and sell pottery.
Stone and adobe.
Long rows.
Held a vast roof.
San Pedro district, Canchis province, about 110 km south-east of Cusco on the Puno road
Easiest is a Cusco-Puno tourist bus that stops there, or a car from Cusco in about two and a half hours. The ticket is separate from the Cusco ticket.