Activities

From Mama Simona B & B – Cusco you can know many historical and interesting places walking to the Plaza de Armas, here we leave you a route that you might like, the first thing you should do is take a free map at our reception.

Leaving Mama Simona B&B going down Ash Street on the left and continuing along Desamparados you can reach the San Pedro Market famous for which it was commissioned and built at the Eiffel factory between 1925 and 1950.

From St. Peter's Square, in front of the market, you can see the Church of San Pedro that was originally a chapel built in 1572 and that collapsed in the earthquake of 1650, in 1688 the construction of the current temple began.

From the San Pedro Market, walking along Santa Clara Street towards the Plaza San Francisco you will pass by the Santa Clara church, which is also a cloister convent and is considered the oldest in Cusco, its construction begins in 1603. 

Before reaching the Plaza San Francisco you will cross the Arch of Santa Clara built in 1835 and considered the most beautiful Arch of the Triumph in Peru.

When you arrive at the Plaza San Francisco you can see the façade of the College of Sciences and Arts of Cusco,  the oldest school in Cusco since it was created by Simon Bolivar when they merged the San Bernardo school founded in 1619 and the San Francisco de Borja school.

Next to the College of Sciences you can see the Church of San Francisco de Asis whose the original construction of 1572 was destroyed in 1645 to modernize it however, the earthquake of 1650 destroyed the advanced so that the temple  was finally finished building in 1652.

If you continue your tour along Marquez Street (pedestrian street) towards the Plaza de Armas of Cusco you will pass by the Church and convent of La Merced, rebuilt and restored more than once the current temple replaced the first temple destroyed by the earthquake of 1650 built between 1651 and 1670 while the tower had to be built between 1692 and 1696 as well as the second cloister of the convent.  The museum of this church is highly recommended to be visited.

The Plaza de Armas of Cuzco is located in the historic center of the city. During the Inca empire it was the administrative, religious and cultural center of the imperial capital where all kinds of ceremonies were held and the victories of the Inca army were celebrated. After the Spanish conquest, it was transformed into a square by the new rulers. In this square, Túpac Amaru II was executed in 1781. It is currently the central nucleus of modern Cusco, surrounded by tourist restaurants, jewelry stores, travel agencies and the same Catholic churches built during the colonial period and that constitute two of the most important monuments of the city: the Cathedral of Cusco and the Church of the Company of Jesus.  In 1972 it was declared a Historical Monument of Peru and since 1983 being part of the historic center of the city, it is part of the central area declared by UNESCO as a Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Church of the Company of Jesus in the Main Square of Cusco was built in 1576 on the archaeological site of Amarucancha, which was the palace of the Inca Huayna Capac and is one of the few churches in the world that are a few meters from the Cathedral of a city.

The Cathedral of the Cusco next to the temples of the Triumph and the Sagrada Familia on its sides make up the Whole of the Cathedral. Its construction lasted from 1560 to 1654 and was built on the Suntor Wassi  or the "Government House" of the Inca and on the Kisoarkancha or Palace of the Inca Viracocha. It is the most important religious monument in the Historic Center of Cusco.