Cathedral of Cuzco

The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin in Cusco, which is also known as 'Cusco Cathedral,' is set on the main square of the Peruvian city, the Plaza de Armas. Building was completed in 1654, almost a hundred years after construction began.

Cusco Cathedral is a Baroque-style cathedral built on the foundations of the palace of the Inca Wirachocha in Cusco. Construction began in 1550, using many stones looted from the site of the hillside Sacsayhuaman fortress. It is considered one of the most splendid Spanish colonial churches in the Americas.

Due to the resentful feelings felt by the conquered Incas towards the Spaniards, the Inca workforce incorporated much of their religious symbolism into the construction of the cathedral, for example, the carved head of a puma (an important god or religious motif found widely through much of ancient Peru) on the cathedral doors.