Wikimedia CommonsCulture
Andean / Inca
Location
Cusco Region, Peru
Key Figures
Inti (Sun God), Mama Quilla (Moon Goddess), Pachacuti, Francisco Pizarro
The Myth
The story as told by the culture
Coricancha ('House of Gold' in Quechua) was the holiest shrine in the Inca Empire, the place where the Sun God Inti received daily veneration. The walls and roof were covered in gold sheets, thousands of kilos of gold accumulated over centuries of ritual offering. The Inca believed they were children of Inti, and the emperor (Sapa Inca) was the earthly manifestation of the Sun God. Morning ritual involved priests offering libations of fermented corn (chicha) and burning llama fat as the sun rose, synchronizing human ceremony with the daily rebirth of the solar deity.
The temple contained subsidiary shrines to Mama Quilla (Moon Goddess), the stars, and the thunder god (Illapa). The most sacred object was a gold disk representing the sun, before which the emperor conducted ceremonies. Female attendants (the Chosen Women) served the temple, dedicating their lives to the Sun God. Coricancha embodied Inca cosmology — a place where the material and spiritual worlds intersected, where divine power was made visible in gold, and where the empire's relationship to the cosmos was continuously renewed through ritual.
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Myth types
The Place
The physical location today
Coricancha sits in the heart of Cusco, capital of the Inca Empire, at an elevation of approximately 3,400 meters. The original structure was built during the reign of Pachacuti in the 15th century. The temple occupied roughly 4 acres and was surrounded by other religious buildings, workshops, and storage chambers. The main temple building is a rectangular structure with curved walls built of precisely fitted stone blocks without mortar.
The interior chambers were arranged around a central courtyard. The largest chamber held the gold disk of Inti. Smaller chambers were dedicated to Mama Quilla, the stars, and Illapa. A sophisticated water management system channeled water through the temple complex. The walls were, according to Spanish chroniclers, completely covered in sheets of gold and silver, creating an almost blinding reflective surface in sunlight.
In 1534, Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro's soldiers stripped the gold from the temple, melting it down for currency. The Spanish then built the Church of Santo Domingo directly on top of the Inca foundations, using Inca stonework as the foundation for the colonial church — a symbolic overlay of Christianity on Inca religion.
Visit information
Access
Ticketed — combined Cusco tourist ticket provides access
Nearest city
Cusco, Cusco Region, Peru
Notes
Located in central Cusco; accessible by foot. The colonial church (Church of Santo Domingo) occupies the upper level; below, visitors can see Inca stonework. Elevation 3,400 meters — acclimatize for altitude. The juxtaposition of Spanish church and Inca temple makes this site of particular historical and spiritual power.
The History
What archaeology and scholarship tell us
Coricancha was built under Pachacuti (r. 1438-1471) as the empire expanded and the state religion became more formalized. The temple accumulated tremendous wealth through offerings of gold and silver from across the empire. Chronicles describe it as the wealthiest religious site in the Americas before the conquest.
When Spanish conquistadors under Francisco Pizarro arrived in 1534, they systematically stripped the gold from Coricancha. The amount was astounding — estimates suggest tens of thousands of kilograms of gold. The Spanish melted it down into ingots, destroying the artistic and spiritual significance of the objects in pursuit of currency. Pizarro then granted the land to his chaplain, who founded the Church of Santo Domingo on the site.
Repeated earthquakes have actually revealed the engineering brilliance of the Inca. Several major quakes (1650, 1950) damaged or destroyed the colonial church superstructure, while the Inca stonework remained largely intact, its curved walls and fitted blocks absorbing seismic energy. This physical evidence of Inca superiority is perhaps the temple's final irony — the conquerors' architecture crumbled while the conquered's persisted.
Sources
Cobo, Bernabé. Inca Religion and Customs (translated) (1990). University of Texas Press. 17th-century Spanish chronicler's account of Inca religious practices and Coricancha as the holiest temple
Tier 1Geertz, Clifford. The Religion of Java (1960). Free Press. Comparative study of sacred space and temple complexes; contextualizes Coricancha's religious significance
Tier 2Nearby Sites
Related Entries
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The center of the Aztec universe — buried beneath Mexico City for 500 years, rediscovered by electrical workers in 1978
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Inca Empire — 15th-16th centuries CE
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