Elna Schutz explores how antiquity and modernity coexist in the city of Cusco, perched high in the Andes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The air may be thin, but the history is deep in the ancient Peruvian city of Cusco.
To many, this forms a necessary stop before carrying on their pilgrimage to Machu Picchu.
But if you stay a while, you may start to recognize the ever present layers of antiquity and modernity in the city.
You're listening to Tall Stories, a Monocle production brought you by the team behind the Urbanist.
I'm Andrew Tuck.
In this episode, Elna Schutz explores the duality of the city in Peru's Andes mountains.
The city of Cusco in Peru is often a stepping stone for travelers needing to acclimatize to the altitude before visiting Matupitu.
But in the minds of a bygone civilization, this was the center of the world.
This city is in fact a living duality, and its walls are a constant reminder of the varied history of Peru.
Every corner of the old town is a reflection of how the ancient Incan empire ruled until the Spanish conquest.
To show you this, let's start in the main square of Cusco, the Plaza de Armas.
At first glance, it might feel almost like a square in Spain, with its green grass around a bubbling fountain.
But the statue on top is of Pachacuti, an Incan emperor.
This has been the centre of public life here for centuries.
If you take a look at the walls of the shops and restaurants around the square, you'll see that most of them are seemingly built in two layers.
The bottom half is made of smooth, strong stone built at an angle, showing you the ingenuity of Incan architecture.
A slanted winder base protected against the earthquakes that are frequent in the region.
While the Incas typically stuck to more sturdy one storey buildings, the Spanish built on top of it.
There's ornate wooden balconies and lots of blue paint, which often was a sign of wealth.
Speaking of wealth, imagine a building covered in gold.