Cuzco

Cuzco-Tina Evans: Aim- Cuzco, Peru (also written as “Cusco”) originated as a complex Incan city. It was established primarily for religious practices and to be a place where the Incas could control their own government, religion, and structures. The city is beaming with historical context, yet also heavily developed culture from centuries of life. “The noble city was clearly isolated from the clearly delineated areas for agricultural, artisan and industrial production as well as from the surrounding neighbourhoods” (“City of Cuzco”). This bustling metropolis of it’s time has only grown since being an Incan city, to being taken over by Spaniards decades later. Nowadays, Cuzco is a glorious travel destination and shows tourists the history, strong culture, and infrastructure of the city. “Currently, Cusco is the greatest tourist region of the country and receives over a million visitors a year” (“Cusco: Capital of…”). With the slow rebuilding of the Incan ruins, and the preservation of both the ruins and the Spanish churches, Cuzco is a great representation of both past and more modern times.

Audience- Cuzco was home to a couple of civilizations. The Inca used Cuzco as a place where their culture, religion, and infrastructure could flourish. They also developed and extremely strong government for their time here. In the sixteenth century, Spaniards colonized Cuzco and build huge churches and palaces on the outskirts of the blooming city. “They were mostly of baroque style with local adaptations, which created a unique and high quality mixed configuration representing the initial juxtaposition and fusion of different periods and cultures, as well as the city’s historic continuity” (“City of Cuzco”). These churches and the Inca ruins have been heavily attracting tourists for years as well. Cuzco has had to keep up with the times and the amount of tourists and “...On December 22nd 1983, it acknowledged the portent of its Andean internal areas through a law that declared the city of Cusco as the ‘Tourist Capital of Peru’ and ‘Cultural Heritage of the Nation’...” (“The History of…”). The audience of Cuzco now are primarily the tourists of the city, for the focus of the city is preservation of the ruins for future visitors to witness.

Cultural- The culture of Cuzco has been strongly impacted over the centuries since its creation. Originally, the Inca, Spaniards, and various smaller cultures used the city to blossom their religious views. The creation of many churches, including the Cathedral of Cuzco, have home to the religions practiced in the area. Although, “Pizarro wrote to King Charles V to say Cusco would look “remarkable even in Spain”, before he destroyed many of the Inca structures to use as foundations for Spanish churches and buildings” (“Cusco History”). Life in Cuzco has always been surrounded by religion, regardless of what culture of people lived there. More recently, Cuzco has been a large archeological site. “Cusco, however, was chosen as the “Archaeological Capital of South America” in recognition of its historic importance to not only Peru but the whole continent” (Cusco: Capital of…”). A strong sense of culture has always been a part of life in Cuzco, whether it be for tourists or people who live there.

Historical- Cuzco has played a large role in the history of Peru for the majority of the time since the city’s creation. What was once home to the Inca and many smaller civilizations became home to Spaniards and later many Peruvians. The history of Cuzco stood primarily through the religion in the area and the architecture left behind. When the Spaniards came “Cuzco was preserved and temples, monasteries and manor houses were built over the Inca city” (“City of Cuzco”). Later on the city had both rebellions and natural disasters ruin some of the building’s in the city. “ In 1950 another great earthquake destroyed three quarters of the buildings in Cusco” (“Cusco History”). Time since has primarily been spent protecting and renovating the old structures for tourism purposes. However so much of Cuzco’s history has been religion based, creating beautiful architecture from all different time periods throughout the area.

Works Cited:

“City of Cuzco.” //UNESCO World Heritage Centre.// UNESCO World Heritage Centre, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2015. “Cusco History.” //World Travel Guide.// Columbus Media Travel Ltd., 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2015 “The History of Cusco.” //Cusco-Peru.// Enjoy Corporation, 21 Feb. 2015. Web. 21 Feb. 2015 “Cusco: Capital of the Incan Empire.” //Don Quijote.// Don Quijote Salamanca S.L., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2015