Qorikancha
Start where the Inca Empire kept its most important temple. Qorikancha, Quechua for 'golden temple', was first called Intikancha or Intiwasi and belonged to Inti, the Sun god. The High Priest lived here and carried out the regular sacrifices and rites with a staff of other priests. What you see today is two worlds fused together: Inca walls of fitted stone, and resting on them the Church and Convent of Santo Domingo.
Look closely at the masonry. The builders used ashlar, blocks of similar size cut and shaped by hand, and they rejected any stone with even a slight flaw or break. That made the temple far harder to build, and that was the point: the sheer labor showed how many workers the state could mobilize and direct. The same techniques were repeated across the Andes, a sign of how far Inca control reached.
Pachakuti Inca Yupanqui rebuilt Cusco and this House of the Sun, added oracles and buildings and covered it with plates of fine gold. He also supplied gold and silver vessels for the Mama-cunas, cloistered women who wove and dyed wool for the temple and brewed chicha. After the 16th-century war with the Spanish conquistadors most of the complex was destroyed, and settlers carried off its stones for their own churches and houses. The church you see dates from the 17th century, built after the 1650 earthquake brought down the first Dominican convent.
Go inside: nowhere on this walk shows more clearly how colonial Cusco was built on top of Inca Cusco, and the ticket is worth it. Allow about 45 minutes. From here it is 850 m, about 14 minutes on foot, to San Blas Church, passing the Casa de los cuatro bustos, a colonial house, on the way.
