Colonial Chruches

On march 12th, the class embarked on a long bus ride to Puno. On our way to this new town, we stopped at two churches that show an immense contrast from the previous Inca "churches" that we had visited. The church at Huaro, is a small colonial structure on the outskirts of Cuzco. before the entry, the floor is decorated by rocks that form circular shapes. Inside, one can see a large mural that represents the christian views of hell and sin. it is evident that when the Spanish colonizers began to take over the Inca empire, the imposed their views of salvation and Christian religion upon the Quechua people. Images of saints and Jesus Christ are displayed around the walls. the church is very saturated with gold adornments. Also, the ceiling has a very concentrated architecture and shows some shapes of Arabian architecture with a large whole in the form of a star in the center of the ceiling. In comparison with the Inca Huaca's and religious shrines, the colonial architecture seems a bit over done and plainly less esthetically attractive. This great contrast symbolized the intense difference between the Quechua and Inca culture and that one of the Spanish colonizers, the transition that these groups underwent must have been scrutinizing.
After visiting the church we headed towards the temple of Wiracocha in Racchi. The architecture of the structures that have survived was actually quite different from the previous sited that we had visited. The main structures were like immense walls that were actually not formed by the typical geometric rocks.The complex is made up of housing, temples, palaces, astronomical observations, food storehouses and walls. It is located on the right bank of the Vilcanota River between 3450 and 3550 meters above sea level. A quarry was also visible where the construction materials were brought from.