Cusco is a city rich in art and culture. Its art is expressed in ancestral customs that are kept alive by its people, and which are expressed in dances, costumes, religious celebrations and more. Cusco offers many museums and art galleries where a part of this rich Andean culture is exhibited.
Cusco is considered a museum city due to the numerous museums and archaeological sites there.
In its streets there are a large number of Inca and colonial walls. In the historic center alone there are more than 10 baroque style churches.
The population of Cusco preserves many customs of their Inca ancestors. For example, Quechua, the language of the Incas, is still spoken in this city.
The festivities of Cusco are a sample of its rich Inca and colonial culture. The festival of Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun), for example, has its origins in the Inca empire.
The Qosqo Center of Native Art is a cultural precinct that offers a daily show of Cusquenian music and dances.
There you can see an exhibition with typical costumes and musical instruments used in the different regions of Cusco.
The Qosqo Native Art Center is composed of a cast of 70 artists.
The place is located in the middle of El Sol Avenue, one of the main avenues of the city. To visit this cultural precinct you must buy the Cusco tourist ticket.
This cultural precinct exhibits various textile products made with a traditional technique. This technique has been used for hundreds of years by the peasant peoples of Cusco.
The textile center offers tourists a detailed explanation of the process of spinning, dyeing and decoration of their products. There is also a museum that provides information on the history of textiles in Cusco.
Visitors can also purchase the garments offered at the textile center. The shop is located next to the famous temple of Coricancha.
The Natural History Museum in Cusco will show you a collection of the animals and birds that you can see in the region.
The more than 150 species of snakes belonging to the Peruvian Amazon stand out. Some of them live in the jungle of Machu Picchu National Park.
The Inka Museum is the museum that keeps the Andean culture alive. Its presentation involves visitors, allowing them to participate in the exhibition, which allows them to see the evolution of the culture and the Andean individual and society.
The museum belongs to the National University of Cusco. The place was the palace of the Inca Huascar. Among its most important pieces are its keros (Inca ceremonial vessels) as well as its textiles and colonial paintings.
The museum is located in the colonial building that was the home of the famous Cusquenian writer Garcilaso de la Vega.
The site offers various museum exhibits dating from pre-Inca, Inca, colonial and republican times in Cusco and other parts of Peru.
The museum also has interactive panels that explain the evolution of Cusco from pre-history to the death of the revolutionary Tupac Amaru II.
Admission to the Regional Historical Museum is included in the Cusco Tourist Ticket. It is located in front of the Plaza Regocijo, a few steps from the Plaza de Armas of the city.
The Coricancha was the main Inca religious temple, even more important than Machu Picchu.
This museum has 5 rooms where the history of the ancient Peruvians is exhibited and explained.
The museum displays pre-Inca and Inca pieces recovered from excavations done at the site. It also displays colonial pieces as well as interactive panels that explain the evolution of the Coricancha temple.
The pieces include ceramic fragments, samples of metallurgy, textiles, sculptures, paintings and even musical instruments.
To enter this and other museums, you will need to buy the Cusco tourist ticket.
This museum displays beautiful works of contemporary art, influenced by the ancestral Andean culture.
It is an ideal place for all people who enjoy modern art.
This museum is located inside the municipal palace in the Regocijo square, one block from Cusco's Main Square.
The foundations of this building belong to the old Palace of Inca Roca.
The construction that can be seen today is the Archbishop's Palace built in the 18th century.
As its name indicates, this museum houses some of the best works of religious art. The walls are beautifully decorated, it has cedar ceilings and some unique stained glass windows specially designed for the archbishop's palace.
Its collection houses many interesting pieces of art such as: ceramics, paintings, sculptures and photographs.
This collection is integrated by works of renowned Peruvian artists such as: Edilberto Merida, Hilario Mendivil and Santiago Rojas.
Some of them have very famous galleries in the artists' quarter of the San Blas neighborhood.
The Museum of Popular Art is owned by the American Institute of Art, so its exhibition is very varied. It is located just a few blocks from the Plaza de Armas.
The construction of the cathedral of Cusco lasted more than 100 years (from 1560 to 1664). On the site was the palace of the Inca Huiracocha. It is the main church of the city. It consists of 3 temples: the Basilica del Triunfo, Basilica de la Sagrada Familia and the Cathedral complex.
The cathedral museum exhibits various treasures of great value such as the murals, the stalls, the altar and other ornaments made of gold and silver leaf. In the lower vaults there are catacombs.
To visit the cathedral of Cusco you must go to mass (from seven in the morning). The other option is to buy a ticket (from ten in the morning). The cathedral is located just in front of the Plaza de Armas of the city.
The museum is located in the heart of the beautiful monastery of Santa Catalina and has one of the best art collections in the entire city.
It also houses numerous works by artists of the famous Cusco school. In addition to religious works, its exhibition includes colonial works, but also some ancient religious works.
The main altar carved in cedar is one of the details that cannot be overlooked.
It is located on Santa Catalina Angosta Street, less than a block from Cusco's Main Square.
The museum of pre-Columbian art is located inside a colonial house in the Plazoleta Nazarenas. The building is beautiful, it has an Inca courtyard built hundreds of years ago.
Its exhibition includes very interesting pre-Columbian artifacts belonging to the ancient cultures that inhabited the Cusco valley.
This exhibition contains more than 450 works of art including jewelry, ceramic pieces and some Inca treasures.
This museum exhibits the original artwork of the late local religious artist Hilario Mendivil (1929 - 1977).
The exhibit is a series of unique religious sculptures whose main feature is their elongated necks.
The Cusquenian artist used this technique inspired by the stylized necks of llamas and alpacas.
The most outstanding works are the Virgin of Bethlehem and the Virgin of the Milk.
You can find this gallery next to the main square of the traditional neighborhood of San Blas.
Museum that exhibits pieces found during the excavations in Machu Picchu, after its rediscovery in 1911.
The museum is located in the beautiful colonial mansion of Marquis Jose de Santiago Concha and on the ruins of the Inca Tupac Yupanqui.
Among the pieces found in Machu Picchu that are in the museum are: Inca ceramic vases, crockery, ceremonial knives and textiles.
In the Concha House Museum you can also appreciate interactive exhibits that show what life was like in Machu Picchu in Inca times.
To visit this museum you must buy a ticket at the entrance door, located at 320 Santa Catalina Ancha Street.
This museum also offers various objects found during the first excavations of Machu Picchu. It is located in Aguas Calientes (also known as Machu Picchu village).
The museum also has panels and interactive exhibits that explain the process of excavation and development of Machu Picchu.
The museum is located on the Hiram Bingham Highway, at the foot of the archaeological site of Machu Picchu. To enter you must buy the entrance ticket online or at the museum.
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