Kusilluchayoc - El templo de los monos
Carved boulder shrine of beheaded serpent, feline, and monkey reliefs above a ritual offering basin.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Kusilluchayoc, the temple of the monkeys near Cusco, opens with a challenge: count the animals carved into the boulder in front of you, because for five centuries no two visitors have agreed. It traces the name back to Quechua speakers and the monkeys it references, then follows colonial extirpators of idolatry through the Cusco highlands, who struck the heads off several of the carved figures to strip the shrine of its power. You'll also hear about the offering basin between the stone galleries and a theory that the whole outcrop once tracked the moon and sun. Crouch at the same angle earlier visitors have and decide what you see.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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