Chinchero
A highland town at 3,760 meters, where a colonial church was built on the site of an Inca royal palace, best known for its traditional weaving cooperatives and Sunday market.
Chinchero sits on a highland plateau between Cusco and Urubamba at about 3,760 meters. Tradition holds that it was the estate of the Inca ruler Túpac Inca Yupanqui. On one side of the central plaza are Inca stone walls and terraces, and above them stands an adobe church built in the early 17th century, its interior covered with painted murals and a painted ceiling. Admission is included in the Cusco tourist pass. Chinchero is famous for the traditional textiles of Quechua women. Several weaving cooperatives demonstrate shearing, natural plant dyeing, and backstrap looms, and there is a local market on Sundays. Most Sacred Valley day trips stop here. It is about an hour by car to Cusco, and you can also get off a minibus heading to Urubamba along the way. The altitude is high, so watch for altitude sickness.
Opening hours
Ruins and church approx. 07:00–17:30
Nearby sights
- Huchuy Qosqo
- Maras Salt Mines
- Moray
- Awana Kancha
- Pisac Market
- Pisac Archaeological Park
- Machu Picchu Trains (Ollantaytambo Station)
- Ollantaytambo