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Chinchero: It is a
district in the Urubamba province, 30 Kms. (19 miles) away through
the paved road, northwest from Qosqo. Its altitude is 3780 mts.
(12400 feet), over a plateau that is cold during the early mornings
and at night time. It was one of the most important Inkan towns in
the region, where even today it is possible to see vestiges of its
great past.
The meaning of its original name is lost;
although, today tradition knows it as the "land of the rainbow"
because over here the K'uychi (rainbow) is frequently seen in the
rainy season. As it is known the rainbow was a special deity among
Inkas; it had a temple inside the Qosqo's Qorikancha, and still
today in many regions of the Andes people respect, fear or even
revere it. Alfonsina Barrionuevo, about the behavior of people in
front of a rainbow says, "... It is not possible to watch the
rainbow, they say superstitiously, without covering the mouth
because it rots the teeth. Neither it is possible to point it with
the finger because it undermines the bones. Maidens run away from it
because if it catches them in the countryside, it has children with
them".
Lamentably, as in most of the
towns or temples near Qosqo, Chinchero was wrecked and modified by
the "idolatries extirpators". Its destruction began when Manko Inka
after his campaign in Qosqo decided to discharge his soldiers so
that they could go back to their farmlands and take care of their
families; he went towards Ollantaytambo passing through Chinchero
and burning it so that the invaders who were persecuting him could
not have either food or lodging.
Subsequently in 1572, Viceroy
Toledo founded the "Doctrine of Our Lady of Monserrat of Chinchero"
and ordered construction of the present-day Catholic Church that was
finished by the first years of the XVII century; possibly in 1607,
that is the year found in the writing over the main arch inside the
church. The whole church was built using as foundations the finely
carved limestones that belonged to a great Inkan palace. The
entrails of the fine Inkan building were filled up as high as the
roofs with earth brought from some other sectors. It was in the
1960s when the Inkan palace was discovered under the Catholic
Church.
The Inkan palace must have been very important
because on its facade facing to the southern plain presents openings
of triple jamb that by themselves indicate its category. Farther
south from the plain there are two "wakas" (shrines) carved on
outcrop limestone formations; today they are known as "Chinkana" and
"Titiqaqa". Towards the west there is another shrine named as
"Pumaqaqa" where it is possible to observe on the in-situ rock
sculptures of two pumas which heads were mutilated. Farther west
from the mentioned plain there are, even more, a large amount of
farming terraces that are still cultivated in spite of having lost
their aqueducts.
On the southeastern side of the church is another
great plaza that today is the town's Main Plaza. On its western side
there is a wall containing big trapezoidal niches that can easily
let a person stand up inside; they must have been used to keep the
nobility mummies and idols that presided over ancestral ceremonies.
That wall with niches has a genuine carved andesite cornice. By the
middle of this plaza is a bust honoring Mateo García Pumakawa
Chiwant'ito who was born in the house located in front of the bust;
the house has small arch windows on the second floor. Mateo Pumakawa
was Chinchero's Quechua chief, Official and Warrant Officer paid by
the Spanish army; he fought against the Tupaq Amaru II Revolution
helping to bring about his defeat in 1781. When being old aged he
wanted to repay what he did against his people and race and joined
the Angulo brothers in order to fight against the Spanish crown.
But, he was defeated and hung from an arch like the ones that are
seen in Chinchero, in Sicuani in 1814.
After the Tupaq Amaru defeat, Pumakawa made paint
his victory in frescos over the church's gate: by the middle is the
Monserrat Virgin, to her right is the victory celebration that
coincides with the Thanksgiving procession and the presence of Saint
Paul, and Saint Peter holding in his hand the heaven's keys.
Toward the left side of the Virgin is the battle
representing chaos and Tupaq Amaru's faction. More over, there are
images representing Pumakawa symbolized in form of fighting
victorious Pumas; and other images representing Tupaq Amaru
symbolized by the "amaru" (serpent-dragon) as chaos and squalor
representation. Inside the church there is a canvas representing the
same dark-skinned Monserrat Virgin, where it is possible to see
angels sawing the mountain; that artwork was painted by Quechua
Cusquenian School artist Francisco Chiwant'ito and dated in 1693.
Juan Carlos Estenssoro wrote about that canvas: " This Virgin,
although, Spanish typically, is related with some others of the
purely Andean imagery such as the Virgin of Galleries, in which
Virgin and mountain are confused".
In Chinchero, every Sunday morning there is a
nice native market, which is one of the most typical and commendable
ones in the region. Over here it is still possible to observe
bartering of goods, and almost always people exchange tropical goods
such as fruits, coca leaves or salt for some other regional goods
such as potatoes, broad beans, ollucos, etc. Also over here, there
is a market for tourists with diverse handicrafts with very well
made weavings standing out. Unlike some other markets where
merchants are foreigners, over here merchants are native regional
people.
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