Cusco Planetarium

About this audio guide

This guide to Planetarium Cusco starts at the gate, where a squat adobe cottage with a red tile roof looks nothing like an observatory, tucked into a pine ridge above the ruins of Saqsayhuaman. It traces why the founders built inward instead of up, after Cusco's heritage authority blocked their original plans for something taller inside the protected buffer around the Inca fortress. You'll hear about the domes hidden inside that humble house, and about real telescopes waiting outside once the sky darkens. Step outside after dark and see how many stars the adobe walls were hiding.