Chinchero: The Birthplace of the Rainbow
Chinchero is a town and archaeological site on the plateau above the Sacred Valley of the Urubamba, located approximately 26 kilometers northwest of Cusco, at an elevation of approximately 3,762 meters. The site was an important Inca town in the imperial period, and it includes a colonial church built on Inca foundations, a series of large polygonal stones, an extensive system of agricultural terraces, and a complex of irrigation canals and channels. The site is conventionally interpreted as a royal estate of the ninth Sapa Inca, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, and is associated in local tradition with the rainbow, a sacred huaca in Inca religion. The town of Chinchero is one of the most visited in the region, and the site is a National Historic Landmark of Peru.
The setting and the imperial context
Chinchero sits on a broad, flat plateau that lies at the head of the Sacred Valley, between the valleys of the Urubamba and the Vilcanota. The plateau is bounded on the east by the high peaks of the Vilcabamba range, on the west by the mountains of the Chinchero range, and on the south by the descent to the valley floor. The plateau is a region of mild climate, fertile soil, and abundant water, and it was the site of an extensive Inca settlement in the imperial period.
The Inca town of Chinchero is conventionally dated to the mid-fifteenth century and is attributed to the reign of the ninth Sapa Inca, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. The chroniclers record that the town was one of the principal royal estates of the imperial family, and that the Sapa Inca had a palace there. The site is also associated in local tradition with the Pachacuti, the cosmic turn or renewal that was celebrated in the imperial cult, and with the Tinku, the meeting of the highland and lowland communities that took place at the site each year.
The site was occupied continuously through the colonial period, and the Spanish built a church and a series of colonial buildings on top of the Inca foundations in the 1570s. The colonial church, the Iglesia de la Natividad de Nuestra Señora, was built on the foundations of an Inca palace, and the construction required the dismantling of the principal Inca building. The walls of the church incorporate several of the largest known Inca polygonal stones in the region, and the building is one of the most striking examples of the integration of Inca and colonial architecture in the Sacred Valley.
The pink granite of Quorior
The principal building stone of Chinchero is a pink granite that was quarried from the mountainside above the town, at a quarry known as Quorior. The granite is a coarse-grained, pinkish rock that is found in outcrops in the Chinchero range, and the Inca used it for the principal buildings of the site, including the walls of the palace, the ceremonial buildings, and the retaining walls of the agricultural terraces. The pink granite of Quorior is the single most distinctive feature of the imperial architecture at Chinchero.
Few Inca-period quarries are as well preserved as Quorior. The site is four kilometers above the town on the Chinchero range, a series of bedrock outcrops where the Inca detached blocks by the “fire and water” method. The unfinished joints of several large blocks are still visible, the cut faces sharp enough to read the tool marks. The blocks were dragged down the mountainside on log rollers and fitted into the walls of the principal buildings.
The walls of Chinchero include some of the largest polygonal stones in the region, with several blocks measuring more than 4 meters in length and weighing more than 20 tons. The stones are fitted with the same close joints as the imperial buildings of Cusco and Machu Picchu, and the walls have withstood the test of time and several major earthquakes. The walls are a tangible reminder of the technical sophistication of the imperial building program, and they have been the subject of detailed study by Peruvian and international researchers.
The rainbow and the local tradition
Chinchero is associated in local tradition with the rainbow, the Kuychi, which is one of the celestial huacas in the Inca pantheon. The tradition holds that Chinchero is the birthplace of the rainbow, and that the rainbow rises from the springs and fountains of the site. The association is recorded in the colonial chronicles and in the local oral tradition, and it is reflected in the ritual practices of the modern community, which include offerings at the principal springs and fountains of the site.
The rainbow was one of the principal celestial huacas of the Inca state, and it was associated with the fertility of the crops and the wellbeing of the community. The principal shrine of the rainbow was at the Coricancha in Cusco, where a separate temple was dedicated to the Kuychi. The shrine at Chinchero was a regional focus of the cult, and the local tradition has preserved the association through the colonial and modern periods.
The local tradition also includes stories of the Pachacuti, the cosmic renewal that was celebrated in the imperial cult. According to one tradition, the Pachacuti was conceived at Chinchero, and the celebration of the cosmic renewal is reenacted each year at the site. The tradition is an important part of the cultural identity of the modern community, and the celebration is one of the principal festivals of the region.
The agricultural terraces
The agricultural terraces of Chinchero are among the most extensive in the Sacred Valley. The terraces are built on the slopes of the plateau, on both sides of the town, and they include a series of platforms that follow the contours of the hillside. The terraces are constructed in the standard imperial form, with a polygonal retaining wall, a layer of large stones for drainage, a layer of q’illpa (volcanic or glacial material) to retain moisture, and a top layer of cultivated soil.
The terraces are integrated with a sophisticated system of irrigation canals that bring water from the springs of the surrounding mountains. The Chinchero canal, which begins at a series of springs on the slopes of the Chinchero range, is approximately 8 kilometers long and is built of polygonal stones with a fine lining of clay or sandy soil. The canal is still in use, and the water continues to flow through the channels in much the same way as it did in the imperial period.
The terraces of Chinchero are also notable for the labyrinth terrace, a small but complex structure on the western edge of the site. The labyrinth terrace is built in a zigzag pattern that creates a series of small chambers and passages, and it is interpreted as a ritual feature associated with the cult of the Pachamama, the earth mother. The labyrinth terrace is one of the most photographed monuments in the site, and it is an important element in the cultural identity of the modern community.