Chinchero (Chincheros)

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Chinchero, beautiful town between green hills

Chinchero or Chincheros is located near the road between city of Cuzco and the town of Urubamba, near Mt. Chicón.

This town is located south of the Vilcanota River, 3.762 m above sea level in a mountainous area of the Sacred Valley.

Chinchero is among the top destinations visited by foreign tourists in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is located in a fantastically beautiful part of this land, surrounded by green hills, high mountains, there even are easily recognizable Inca ruins nearby.

What to see and do in and around Chinchero?

The town is very beautiful. We recommend you to take a walk on its cobbled roads, explore it in detail. You will see colourful houses, even old Inca walls, old churches. Old Inca-architecture reflects in many places, even houses have partly Inca walls.

There is a museum close to the Plaza de Armas, which holds several beautiful Inca artifacts.

The Plaza de Armas itself has an original Inca attraction, the Inca wall with trapezoidal stones.

Chinchero also has a beautiful colonial church of adobe bricks, built on the foundations of an old Inca temple.

Near the Plaza de Armas, you will also find the house of an 1814 anticolonialist, called Mateo García Pumacahua.

The main square has 60 m in width and 114 m in length, where 3 buildings are located, these are old Inca tombs.

The Sunday Market is another great attraction in Chinchero, which draws large crowds of tourists to this small town. It's ideal for those wanting to buy souvenirs.

Lago Piuray (Lake Piuray) is southeast of Chinchero, only at about 2,5 km in the Cuzco direction.

What's already very usual about the old towns, where previously Incas settled, is the presence of the stepped cultivation terraces.

History of Chinchero    

Today you will find guides, maps calling it either Chincheros or Chinchero, but the real name of the town comes from the Quechuan "sinchi", which means "brave man". The name of the town is derived from this word.

Historians say that ruler Inca Túpac Yupanqui had a residence in Chinchero, sometime in the 1480s. He ordered the construction of baths, temples where the town lies today. It is said that the ruler was killed here, perhaps poisoned by his mistress, Chiqui Ocllo or Mama Ocllo. The son of Inca Túpac Yupanqui, called Cápac Huari was held here in prison for life, where he died.

Some believe that Chinchero was sort of a "vacation spot" of Inca Túpac Yupanqui, where the great Inca periodically retreated for relaxation.

Manco Cápac II was fighting in the area with the Spanish colonists in 1540, when he set fire to the Inca town in order not to let the Spaniards put their hands on materials and most importantly, food. This act gave more time to the Incas to escape slaughter.

Chinchero is located close to the lakes, more correctly lagoons of Piuray (which is closer and smaller), the other one is Huaypo (larger, further away, towards the village of Moray). Inca legends speak of 2 children who were turned into these lakes when running after the Sun at the time of his setting. The legends says that Manco Cápac I (not to be confused with Manco Cápac II, who ruled 200-300 years later) was asked by the Sun itself to send his children accompany him (the Sun) at Sunset. The children were then transformed into these lakes.

The Piuray Lagoon is said to have been the daughter and the Huaypo Lagoon the son of Manco Cápac I.

Getting there

Chinchero is 30 km from Cuzco and is easily reachable on good roads. You can travel by bus, rent a car, some stronger individuals even go by bike. Buses, cars reach it from Cuzco in around 45 minutes.

There are good possibilities for accommodation. You can book in advance for whole packages, but perhaps the best way to see Chinchero is to put together a trip individually.

If you don't have much time for visiting the Sacred Valley's towns, villages, then make sure you take trip to Chinchero, it is among the most important places in the proximity of Cuzco, together with the town and Inca ruins of Písac.