Barrio san blas
Hillside artisan quarter of steep cobbled lanes, once prized for a salt spring and sweeping valley views.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Barrio San Blas in Cusco starts with the salt spring that gave the hillside quarter its Inca name, T'oqokachi, and the thunder god the Inca believed could crack a hillside open. You will hear why Pachacutec's elite prized this shelf of the mountain for its view, and how Inca engineers cut stone channels into these streets to tame the rainy season. The Spanish renamed the neighborhood after a bishop but never improved on that plumbing. Look for the narrow channels along the cobblestones before climbing toward the workshops where the Mendivil and Olave families still carve saints from cedar.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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