The Sacred Valley of the Incas is known by tourists from different parts of the world for its cultural and architectural wealth. Pisac is an archaeological park that is a short time from the city of Cusco, full of cultural traditions and crafts that its inhabitants still transmit, without a doubt, this is one of the tourist attractions that the imperial city of Cusco brings to you.
The Pisac National Archaeological Park is made up of groups of archaeological remains, including platforms, aqueducts, paths associated with walls and gates, channeled waterways, cemeteries, bridges, etc. The area covered by this group is 4 square km. On this area are the ruins occupying the hills, they are presented forming groups of complicated arrangement, while in others there are constructions isolated from the other groups.
The Pisac Park is located 33 km away to the east of the city of Cusco. It can be reached through an agency on a tour of the entire Sacred Valley. You can also use the public transport that goes to Urubamba that leaves every 15 minutes, you must get off on the bridge and from there you must go to the back of the Pisac temple in a walk of about an hour.
The archaeological park of Pisac, located on the mountain of Cerro Apu Inti Huatana, is located in the town of the same name, 30 km from the city of Cusco in the province of Calca. Today, it is known as an astronomical observatory.
Its imposing ruins make it one of the important Inca jewels inherited by the Inca Pachacutec. The town of Pisac is located at 2,950 meters above sea level, while the archaeological ruins are at about 3,300 meters above sea level.
According to historians, in the 16th century, Pisac was invaded by the Spanish, causing the inhabitants to flee. From that invasion, the main monuments of this archaeological site were damaged, while the Inca cemetery was destroyed and looted.
It is divided into 2 zones, the old one, located in the upper part, is an Inca archaeological site, and the current one, located in the valley, dating from the colonial era.
The main square of Pisac is a place full of colors and with various handicraft items for sale.
Along with Cusco and Piquillacta, Pisac closes an equilateral triangle of 33 kilometers on each side, precisely, it is believed that in the time of the Incas, This archaeological center was planned to protect the city from possible attacks by its enemies.
Just 200 meters up from the Pisac town square stands a beautiful set of platforms. This group is made up of 40 platforms forming a kind of triangle with the vertex pointing downwards, that is, the smallest platform is the first that the visitor can see when they start to ascend.
In the citadel of Pisac we can count more than twenty towers and they are of two types: the dwelling towers and the watchtower towers; The first ones are conical enclosures associated with water channels built with well-carved and assembled pieces, these look like pulpits attached to the mountain. The watchtower towers are beautiful elevations, with a conical tendency, they are not enclosures, their texture is solid and their interior compact mass plus their portion is flat surface. The most important in its location is Qoriwayrachina.
It is the central neighborhood, home to temples and palaces, with a higher architectural quality, greater beauty in its walls, the enclosures are larger in relation to those of other neighborhoods. It has 3 levels to gain aesthetics and comfort, modulated buildings directed towards the main valley. In this place we can find: The central enclosure, the Intiwatana, the altar carved in a volcanic breccia, groups of liturgical sources, alleys and patios.
It is known as Tianayuc, which translates as "that has a seat" since in the interior patio there is a kind of sofa for two people, with a backrest and elbow pads made of stone. This neighborhood is small, with rooms whose doors overlook a central patio, plus an almost destroyed tower that dominates a good part of the K'itamayu ravine.
It is the largest of the neighborhoods of the Inca city of Pisac, built on the top of the mountain, the highest altitude of all the enclosures, its enclosures move on an inclined plane in a descending way towards the North. It has many rooms, steep slopes, towers, a short tunnel 3 meters long; This neighborhood has impressive ravines on its sides.
It is located on the Chongo ravine, two hundred meters away from the Intiwatana neighborhood and at a lower altitude. This neighborhood was built by lowering the original ground level until modulating a plain. The plan of this neighborhood is semicircular obeying the shape of the mountain, this set consists of 23 enclosures built with amazing order.
This neighborhood has many buildings, the houses are made of medium and small stones, the plane of the complex is inclined that reaches the hillside where the Chongo stream is. The entire neighborhood is like a sentinel controlling the northeastern side of the city of Pisac.
This town is located 1 hour from the city of Cusco. To get to this amazing place, you must follow the road that leads to Sacsayhuaman, through public transport that you will find on Puputi street through the Historic Center of the city of Cusco.
Once you have arrived at the town of Pisac, you have two options to get to the archaeological park, one of them is taking a walk of approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, and another option is to use public transport (30 minutes).
This picturesque town presents us with a challenge for the future of the new generations, to establish a city that preserves its cultural identity based on the principles of our ancestors.
The Hours of Entry from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
The entrance cost is included in the Tourist Ticket
Officially, the district was created on June 21, 1825, by decree issued by the Liberator Simón Bolívar.
It comes from the Quechua word pisaq or p'isaqaq, which means partridge or bird, the same shape as the area for which it is very characteristic.
In addition, this term has a special importance, because it refers to spirituality, with the mystical, with the spiritual values that the human being develops.
If you want to go to Pisac on your own, you must take a public transport (minivan) on Puputi street, located just 15 minutes from the city center. This trip costs 6 soles and takes approximately 1 hour.
yes, the walk will approximately take you almost 1 hour.
You can buy the Cusco Tourist Ticket on Avenida El Sol 103, or at the entrance of the archaeological center.
You can purchase a tour to Pisac and the entire sacred valley here.
The Pisac archaeological site is huge. Going through all its neighborhoods, buildings and roads can take 2 hours or even more.
No, the archaeological site of Pisac has well-defined paths with notices for tourists.
Yes, the archaeological site remains open to tourists every day of the year except in cases of emergencies (natural disasters, strikes, etc.).
We recommend that the visit can be made between the months of May to October, which is the dry season (there is not much rain).
Many are the routes that take you to Machu Picchu, but none is like the Inca Trail Tours, the most famous pedestrian path in the Americas. After flying from the capital of Perú, Lima, you will arrive in Cusco to walk for four days along a path through forests and dense fog, millenary stone steps and discovering the ruins of ancient fortifications and Inca cities, and all the time enjoying majestic views.
