Peru - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 737

9 THE CUSCO TOURIST TICKET AND BOLETO INTEGRAL

The Boleto Turístico (S130 for ten days, students with ISIC card S70) is a vital purchase for
most visitors, as you can't visit most important sites without it. It covers the Sacsaywamán,
Q'enqo, Pukapukara and Tambomachay ruins near the city, as well as those in Ollantaytambo,
Chinchero, Písac, Moray, Tipón and Pikillacta, plus the optional extras of Museo Histórico
Regional, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Museo de Arte Popular, Centro Qosqo de Arte
Nativo, the Pachacutec monument and the Q'orikancha site museum (though not the
Q'orikancha itself ). It's available from all of the sites on the ticket, or from the issuing COSITUC
o ces at Avenida Sol 103, o ce 102 ( T 084 261 465, W www.cosituc.gob.pe). You can also
buy three partial boletos , valid for two days (S70), one covering the ruins immediately outside
Cusco, another the above museums, and the third, the Sacred Valley ruins. The Boleto
Religioso (S50 or S25 for students; valid for ten days), which must be purchased at one of
the following sites, covers the star attractions of the Catedral and the Iglesia de la Compañía
de Jesús, as well as the Iglesia de San Blas, Museo Quijote (contemporary art) and the Museo
de Arte Religioso.

Museo Inka
North of the cathedral, slightly uphill,
you'll find one of the city's most beautiful
colonial mansions, El Palacio del Almirante
(The Admiral's Palace), which now houses
the Museo Inka (Mon-Fri 8am-7pm, Sat
9am-4pm; S10). The museum itself is the
best place in Cusco to see exhibits of Inca
pottery, textiles, trepanned skulls, finely
crafted metalwork (including miniature
metal llamas given as offerings to the gods)
and the largest range of wooden quero vases
in the world. There's excellent interpretative
information in Spanish only, but you can
hire a guide at the entrance for a small fee.

Baroque-style Catedral (daily 10am-6pm;
S25). Inside you'll find some of the
best examples of art from the Escuela
Cusqueña (Cusco School): look out
for he Last Supper , with Christ sitting
down to a feast of cuy (guinea pig), and
the portrayals of the Virgin Mary as
Pachamama (Mother Earth). Also check
out the cathedral's finely carved granite
altar and oldest surviving painting in
Cusco, depicting the terrible 1650
earthquake, as well as a Neoclassical
high altar made entirely of finely beaten
embossed silver. Ten smaller chapels
surround the nave, including the Chapel
of El Señor de los Temblores (The Lord
of Earthquakes) which houses a 26kg
crucifix made of solid gold and encrusted
with precious stones.

Monasterio de Santa Catalina
Leading away from the Plaza de Armas,
Callejón Loreto separates La Compañía
from the tall, stone walls of the ancient
Acclahuasi , a temple where the Sun
Virgins used to make chicha beer for
the Inca ruler. Today, the building is
occupied by the Monasterio de Santa
Catalina , built in 1610, with its small but
grand side entrance half a short block
down Calle Arequipa; just under thirty
sisters still live and worship here. Inside
the convent is the Museo de Arte
(Mon-Sat 8.30am-5.30pm, Sun 2-5pm;
S8), with a splendid collection of
paintings from the Escuela Cusqueña .

Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús
As you look downhill from the centre of
the plaza, the Iglesia de la Compañía de
Jesús (daily 9-11.30am & 1-5.30pm;
S10) dominates the skyline, and is often
confused with the cathedral on first
glance due to the splendour of its highly
ornate facade. First built in the late
1570s, it was resurrected after the
earthquake of 1650 in a Latin cross
shape, over the foundations of Amara
Cancha - originally Huayna Capac's
Palace of the Serpents. Cool and dark
inside, with a grand gold-leaf altarpiece
and a fine wooden pulpit displaying
a relief of Christ, its transept ends in
a stylish Baroque cupola.

Q'orikancha
If you visit one site in Cusco it should be
Q'orikancha . he Convento de Santo
Domingo at the intersection of Avenida