Discover Raqchi

Raqchi Archaeological Park.

Location:

Province   : Canchis.

District  : San Pedro, Tinta.

The Raqchi Archaeological Park is located in the community of Raqchi, district of San Pedro, province of Canchis, in the department of Cusco.

It was recognized as such through National Directional Resolution N ° 392 – 2009.

Access:

It is accessed by land, using the Cusco – Puno highway. At kilometer 121 a floating pedestrian path is used, which leads to the archaeological settlement on the left side of the road.

Extension:

Area: 1, 097.00 Hectares.

History:

Raqchi, is a religious, political settlement and pre-Hispanic center in memory of the Andean god Wiracocha, the main deity of the Inkas. The most important sector is the temple, whose structure is 91 meters long by 28 wide and an average height of 12.30 meters.

In the middle part, the enclosure shows 11 support points for the roof structure. To the east you can see a wide esplanade related to the function of the temple.

According to written information, it is known that the Inkas, after defeating the Chankas, began their expansion towards Collasuyo, presenting the Canchis and the Kanas.

The chroniclers have different versions regarding the construction of Raqchi. Cieza de León attributes it to the Inca Tupaq Yupanqui; Juan de Betanzos states that the Inka Wayna Capac, while Bernabé Cobo and Garcilaso de la Vega believe that the Inka Wiracocha sent him to build.

Investigators agree that the temple had a kallanka gable roof, with side passages and connecting windows, where many people settled. The temple is related to the Kinsachata volcano, considered a very important huaca, at the base of which there are tombs, retaining walls, and chullpas.

The majesty of the temple is expressed in a structure of singular height on the walls of which an iconography representing a religious continuity is represented. On the stone foundations, the dark red paint is still visible today, showing the stepped sign adorning the empty spaces. The chronicles also point out that there was a statue of the god Wiracocha. Juan de Betanzos narrates the appearance of Ticsi Viracocha in the following way: “… Viracocha upon reaching the town of Cacha, territory of the Canas, is attacked by those who did not recognize him, but he makes fire fall from the sky, but to The surrender of the Indians, he stops him with a stick. The Indians raised a guaca in memory of these events and Viracocha, with a stone statue about five meters high and one wide, with a lot of gold.

The Raqchi archaeological site was abandoned at the beginning of the colony when the population was divided into the reductions of San Pedro and Tinta. This allowed clandestine excavations and constant looting of the Wiracocha temple to extract gold and other riches from the architectural structure.

Within the demarcation of the park are the archaeological sites of: Andenes de Machaqmarka, made up of two overlapping sectors, the first of which consists of 4 walls and the second of 5 walls; Shock puquio, also formed by 5 walls oriented from east to west; Inkallaqta, which consists of irregularly distributed circular structures; Kinsachata, which is one of the most important because it contains the main apus, such as the Yakasa and the Kinsachata, which show circular structure tombs, containment platforms near the crater and circular enclosures; Qocha Qosqo, with its funeral structures, distributed without order; Huchuna Huayco, formed by superimposed walls and funerary structures attached to rocky cliffs and the Andenes Yakasa, Yanamancha, Urapampa and Quea.

Also notable are the sites of Inka Raqay, which is an Inka kancha with a square shape; the minor temples known as the “chambers of the ñustas”; Qollqas, which is a set of 152 circular enclosures with a diameter of 8 meters; Usno Mesapata, which contains the water collection spring, distributing it to 5 pipelines such as swimming pools; Inca Trail, with its walls that delimit it; chaski Wasi, as a field with 8 enclosures and its perimeter wall of 217.14 linear meters; The wall with two covers, through which two royal roads enter and the Aqueduct, which is outside the wall, with a length of 1, 609 linear meters, oriented from north to south.