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Cuzco - Peru Travel Now

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se dice, leían el futuro en el fuego soplando las brasas con canutos de plata.<br />

Huaro posee una interesante iglesia colonial, la Virgen de la Candelaria, que<br />

luce murales pintados hacia 1803 por Tadeo Escalante, uno de los últimos<br />

exponentes de la Escuela Cuzqueña. Es también de interés la capilla pintada<br />

en honor a la Virgen del Milagro, llamada localmente Kanikunka.<br />

Urcos se presenta en la ruta luego de un ligero ascenso hacia las colinas. En<br />

las afueras de este poblado está la laguna del mismo nombre donde –según<br />

la tradición– los curacas o sumos sacerdotes del <strong>Cuzco</strong> arrojaron la colosal<br />

cadena de oro (de 200 metros de largo y que sólo podía ser sostenida por<br />

200 hombres) que el Inca Huayna Cápac obsequiara a su hijo Huáscar, con<br />

la finalidad de evitar que sea hurtada por los españoles. Urcos muestra en<br />

su plaza de armas una bella iglesia de piedra con pinturas murales del siglo<br />

XVII, entre ellas El bautismo de Cristo, atribuida a Cusi Huamán.<br />

Quiquijana significa ‘mi propiedad’ en aymara. El poblado cuenta con<br />

un hermoso puente de piedra. Viajando siempre en forma paralela al río<br />

Vilcanota, se atraviesan campos de cebada y coloridos poblados como<br />

Cusipata, ‘altura de la alegría’ en quechua, cuyo nombre refleja el carácter<br />

amigable de su gente. Checacupe surge tras un serpentín ascendente de<br />

curvas cerradas. Curiosamente su nombre en quechua significa ‘a derecha<br />

e izquierda’, quizás en alusión a lo tortuoso del camino. Aquí existe una<br />

atrayente iglesia colonial con murales del siglo XVII. Durante la retirada<br />

de Túpac Amaru luego de sitiar el <strong>Cuzco</strong> (1781), este pueblo sirvió de<br />

refugio a las huestes rebeldes, cobijando al propio caudillo que llegó hasta<br />

él cruzando a nado el río Vilcanota.<br />

waros lived during the time of the Incas, and the legends say that they would<br />

read the future in fire blowing on the hot coals through silver tubes. The<br />

city also boasts its own interesting church, the Virgin of the Candlemas, with<br />

outstanding murals painted around 1803 by Tadeo Escalante, one of the last<br />

artists of the <strong>Cuzco</strong> school. Also of note is the chapel painted in honor of the<br />

Virgin of the Miracle, known locally as Kanikunka.<br />

After an easy climb over the hills along this route, you enter Urcos. Along<br />

the outer edges of this village is the lake with the same name where,<br />

according to tradition, the curacas, or high priests of <strong>Cuzco</strong>, heaved in a<br />

colossal golden chain, 200 meters long and weighing so much that it took<br />

no less than 200 men to carry it, which the Inca Huayna Capác gave to his<br />

son Huáscar to keep from being stolen by the Spanish. In its main square,<br />

Urcos exhibits a beautiful stone church with murals painted from the<br />

seventeenth century among them being The Baptism of Christ attributed<br />

to the native artist Cusi Huamán.<br />

Quiquijana means ‘my property’ in Aymara. This village has a lovely stone<br />

bridge. As you keep traveling parallel to the Vilcanota River, you march<br />

through barely fields and colorful towns like Cusipata, ‘the height of<br />

joy’ in Quechua, whose name reflects the kindly character of its people.<br />

Checacupe comes into view after a spiral ascent through tight curves.<br />

Curiously, its Quechuan name means ‘to the right and to the left’, which<br />

perhaps is an allusion to the tortuously twisted road. Here, you find a<br />

gracious colonial church with murals painted during the seventeenth<br />

century. During the retreat of Túpac Amaru after the siege of <strong>Cuzco</strong> in<br />

89

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