RAQCHI
Uploaded by
ScribdTranslationsRAQCHI
Uploaded by
ScribdTranslationsRAQCHI
1. LOCATION
This archaeological complex is located in the district of San Pedro
Cacha, province of Canchis, department of Cusco at 3460 meters above sea level
sea on the slopes of the Quimsachata volcano. Archaeologists have divided it into 5
sectores principales: (A) Templo de Wiracocha, (B) Plazas, C) Colcas, (D) Mesapata y
Sector E, as well as an artificial water reservoir in front of the Temple and a wall.
that surrounds the entire complex.
What stands out most about the Rajchi Complex, without a doubt, is the peculiar Temple.
of Wiracocha, but it is not the only remnant that can be appreciated within it.
We also found the great wall, liturgical fountains, buildings of almost
spherical and houses with rectangular floor plans.
Few chroniclers have dealt with this area, but they all agree in pointing out that in times
of the Inca Túpac Yupanqui and his famous wife the coya Chimpu Ocllo or Mama
Cahua, as it was also known, had been struck by a rain of fire that devastated the
district and "that turned many stones to ash," as stated by Pedro Cieza of
Lion.
2. HISTORICAL REFERENCE
The empire of the Incas or Tawantinsuyu is one of the pre-colonial societies.
that have left traces of their higher organizational level and builder, similar to that of
the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Mesoamericans, and Chinese. Thousands of well-carved stones
and large adobe blocks dried in the sun, constitute testimonies of the
degree of development achieved in science and technology, of its tenacity and discipline
of work.
The territorial area of Tawantinsuyo is sown with terrace systems,
hydraulics, roads and metropolitan cities, also full of palaces, temples,
tambo, qolqa, and habitable enclosures, associated with their deities, apus, wacas and
pucaras, embodying a holistic Andean worldview.
Starting from the imperial capital of Cusco, 117 km to the south lies the
Inca city of Kacha, current Khacha Raqchi, in the northern part of this Urban Center.
the Kimsach Ata volcano is located, linked to the legend of the passage of God
Wiraqocha, the ethnohistorical data shows us that Khacha has been erected to
Wiraqocha, Teqsi-wiraqocha, Teqsi-pachacamac wiraqocha, Pachacamac, what are they
the nominations registered by the chroniclers to refer to the all-powerful creator,
among them Cristobal de Molina, Juan Santa Cruz Pachacutec Salqamayhua, Polo de
Ondegardo, Cieza de León and others.
The peculiar thing about Inca constructions is that they are adapted to the same geomorphology.
previous planning by Inca engineers and builders, this is visualized with K acha
Raqchi, built in a volcanic area, the entire Inca city is walled.
at its eastern and western ends there are entrance and exit gates of the
urban center, through this ancient city runs the royal road to Qollasuyo and/or the
altiplano one of the regions of the Empire.
In its internal structure, the monument itself presents the spaces
corresponding to the temple of Wiraqocha, the rooms or secondary temples, the
circular houses, the Inka square or Pujllanapampa, the ceremonial fountains, the
the platforms of the southwestern part associated with the esplanade.
The Raqchi Archaeological Park consists of pre-Hispanic sites such as
Kinsachata, Chaskiwuasi, Carcelraqay, Pukapata, Yanamancha, Qea, Qocha,
Chillcanamoqo, Pampacancha, Seqakunto, Anapujio, Pucarapata, Miskiuno, Yakasa,
I'll take others.
3. THE TOWN OF RACCHI
A little farther away, three kilometers by road and two by bridle path, there
find San Pedro de Cacha, a town whose origins date back to the time of the viceroy
Francisco de Toledo.
Currently, Racchi is one of the most important communities in the
ceramics production, and is mainly dedicated to the cultivation of potatoes, wheat, broad beans and
corn. In livestock, the breeding of sheep, cattle, and camelids stands out in the areas
high.
Currently, Racchi is one of the most important communities in the
ceramics production, and is mainly dedicated to the cultivation of potatoes, wheat, broad beans, and
corn. In livestock, the breeding of sheep, cattle, and camelids stands out in the areas
high
In the village of Racchi stands out a 19th-century chapel with curious architecture.
popular.
Archaeological complex of Racchi (3,400 m.a.s.l.)
Characteristics
Its twenty hectares house the imposing temple of Huiracocha and the
largest aggregation of colcas or circular deposits of which there is knowledge.
Located near the Vilcanota River, Racchi occupies a plain flanked by
small hills of volcanic origin, a consequence of an ancient eruption of
Quinsachata volcano.
The image of the set, due to the abundance of volcanic origin rocks of color
darkness that completely dominates the landscape, it is one of certain destruction and chaos but,
this impression is misleading, as the archaeological site is relatively well preserved
preserved and, in recent years, it has been the subject of restoration work.
The archaeological complex of Racchi is, without a doubt, one of the most notable of
Cusco. The archaeological site includes a large set of constructions, among which
In addition to the temple and the colcas, there are the barracks or enclosures, the Inca's bath, the
usno, the four-kilometer wall that surrounds most of the Inca remains and the
current community. This architecture reflects the importance of Racchi, as a basis for
the Inca military expansion towards Lake Titicaca.
4. HYPOTHESIS ABOUT THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
Most archaeologists agree that the unique construction that
It dominates the landscape in Racchi, it was the temple to Huiracocha mentioned in the chronicles.
Nevertheless, Manuel Ballesteros, based on the reading of some passages
by Pedro Cieza de León, and the results of the excavations carried out by the Mission
Spanish, consider that the worship of Huiracocha was actually a small
building, now disappeared, which was probably located next to the Baths
of the Inca. In his opinion, the large shed must have been a huge workshop for manufacturing
of textiles; the halls, the weavers' homes, and the colcas would have served
as deposits to store the wools and possibly the ceramics. As a general rule.
and opposing this last hypothesis, the quality architecture among the Incas was
associated with religious purposes (as in the case of Koricancha or Acllahuasi in the
Cusco) or to the houses of the rulers. Currently, the majority of
archaeologists argue that the architectural complex of Racchi had a dual
mission, ceremonial on one side, and military or artisanal on the other.
5. MAIN SECTORS
5.1. THE TEMPLE TO HUIRACOCHA
According to accounts from some chroniclers, in this place the god Huiracocha was attacked by
the white-haired Indians. As punishment, the deity made it rain fire, "leaving with the
fire - as noted by Pedro Cieza de León - consumed and spent the stones." There is
discrepancies, however, about the Inca responsible for commissioning this building
monumental work. Cieza points out that it was Pachacútec who ordered the construction of the
"great rooms" that exist in Cacha, while Garcilaso attributes this work to
Inca Huiracocha, to whom the god of the same name is said to have appeared at a certain
opportunity.
5.2. THE LARGEST INCA TEMPLE
The temple is a unique construction within Inca architecture. It is a
large rectangular warehouse measuring 92 meters long by 25 meters wide, with a
huge central wall of nearly twelve meters high. The base of the wall, up to three
altitude meters, it is finely carved stone, then it is adobe. The temple had
communication doors with openings for discharge above them and supported a roof of
two waters, which was also supported by the eleven cylindrical columns that there are on each side
side, as well as on the side walls of the building. Only one out of the total
Twenty-two columns are preserved today. The lateral walls have remained
the foundations, now visible after the excavation work of the Mission
Spanish in the late seventies.
5.3. THE STATUE
Several centuries after Cieza's visit to Racchi, while work was being done
excavations in Cusco, a stone head and the representation of a
body of the same material. Manuel Ballesteros and other specialists argue, with
quite a foundation, these would be the remains of the statue of Huiracocha,
moved at some point to Cusco and destroyed and buried as part of the
policy of the eradication of idolatries. The head is currently preserved in the Museum
from America of Madrid and the body in the Inca Museum of Cusco.
5.4. THE SPACES
Another sector that stands out for the quality of its architecture is that of the
enclosures or barracks. It includes a total of twenty-two houses that stand out for the
billing of its walls, with its abundant trapezoidal niches, and for its
disposition. Twelve of these houses are aligned in pairs along almost 250
metros. This set of buildings spreads around a series of courtyards of
almost square shape. One of the sides of these courtyards, the one facing the clearing
known as pucllanapampa (in Quechua 'plain of games') is free, in
so that in the other three six rooms are arranged, two on each side.
5.5. THE COLCAS
They are located next to the enclosures and are separated from them by small plots of land.
rectangular shape. They are impressive due to their number, between 120 and 200 according to different
researchers, as well as by their arrangement in a double row that follows
approximately the same axis of the temple. They are circular-shaped constructions.
Some of these colcas have been rebuilt by various expeditions.
archaeological work that has been done on the site, which gives an idea of its appearance
The set, despite being the worst preserved, is impressive in itself.
5.6. THE INCA BATH AND THE USNO
Closer to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, separated from the already described areas.
by an artificial lagoon, the Inca Bath and the usno are located. The first consists of
of two ponds, one longer that receives water from an underground channel
through two mouths, and another shorter one that feeds from one mouth. A few steps away, it
raise what appears to be an usnu or place of libations. This designation includes the
stone with a hole and the architectural space that houses it.
5.7. FLORA AND FAUNA
Due to the ecological floor in which Raqchi is located, the flora includes: Tankar,
Kiswar
natural pastures, watercress, bulrush, and others. As for fauna, there are foxes, owls, and ducks.
wild, doves. whistles and domesticated species.
