Cuzco Cathedral – Cuzco, Peru
Cuzco Cathedral, also known as Catedral Basílica de la Virgen de la Asunción, is the main temple of the city of Cuzco, Peru. It is located in the main plaza of the city, known as the Plaza de Armas. This is in fact, one of the most impressive buildings you’ll see in Cuzco. While it looks like a single building, this cathedral was built as a series of different projects by different architects. The first cathedral was built in 1539 over the footings of Viraconda Inca Palace. It wasn’t until 1649, after many architectural redesigns, that the cathedral was completed.
The stones used were gathered from around the area, in addition to the recycling of stones from the Inca Ruin known as Sacsayhuamán.
The building has some gothic characteristics in its interior as well as some baroque and late gothic characteristics on the exterior façade. Since the art of canvas painting is well developed in Cuzco, inside the cathedral there are many important religious paintings by local artist, all done in the distinctive style of painting known as the “Cuzco School”. The cathedral is known for a Cuzco School painting of the Last Supper depicting Jesus and the twelve apostles feasting on guinea pig, a traditional Andean delicacy.
