CUSCO: LAND FOR ALL THE ROUTE IS ABOUT EIGHT KILOMETRES WALKING AT OVER 4,000 METRES UNTIL YOU REACH COLQUEPUNKU PEAK. HERE, UNDER A CROSS THRUST INTO THE FROZEN GROUND, LEGEND SAYS THAT A YOUNG, SHEPHERD NAMED MARIANO MAYTA IS BURIED. ACCORDING THE MYTH, MARIANO HAD BEFRIENDED ANOTHER YOUNG BOY NAMED MANUEL, WHO HE THOUGHT WAS A LIVING APPARITION OF JESUS. Beginning every June – on Tuesdays following the commemoration of the Holy Trinity – in Sinacara, a district of Occongate, about 70 people come together to participate in the Pilgrimage to Taytacha Qoyllority (Father of the Snow Star). The route is about eight kilometres walking at over 4,000 metres above sea level until you reach Colquepunku peak. Here, under a cross thrust into the frozen ground, legend says that a young, shepherd named Mariano Mayta is buried. According the myth, Mariano had befriended another young boy named Manuel, who he thought was a living apparition of Jesus. Researches say that the pilgrimage began years earlier when people worshipped the mountains, the true gods of the “the great gods of the <strong>Cusco</strong> highlands”. The cross was added many years later when the Spanish arrived proselyting Catholicism. Like the Taytacha Qoyllority Pilgrimage, many cultural events take place in <strong>Cusco</strong> that are both a product of Andean beliefs and of Catholicism. According to the cultural organization ALL- calendar according to rains and the planting season, allowing them to grow food during he warm season and sell or exchange products during the winter icy season. These communities maintain many traditions from their Inca past. They include speaking the Quechua language almost exclusively, dressing in traditional, handmade clothing with designs that identify each village from others and using coca leaves to read the future. Ironically, <strong>Cusco</strong> itself is probably one of the most cosmopolitan an estimated 2 million international visitors every year. The basic population in the city of <strong>Cusco</strong> is 400,000 people. The streets their countries, a handful fall in love with <strong>Cusco</strong> and stay, adding another element to the city. With its mix of people, races, language and cultures, <strong>Cusco</strong> has become a world capital, mixing international customs with Andean beliefs in the power of the mountains and earth, and adding Catholic traditional customs. Thanks to the power of travel, <strong>Cusco</strong> has become an inviting melting pot of people and customs everyone. Above, left: Flowers for sale at the Chinchero market. Above, right: A contrast in colours, this young villager is heading to Ausangate. Below, left: The San Pedro Market in <strong>Cusco</strong>. Below, right: Using an ancient method of conserving potato through drying, locals in Chinchero make Following page: the community of Huilloc.
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