Peru Travel: Pachacutec Monument in Cusco

On a Peru trip, most visitors to Cusco pass the Monument Pachacutec on the way to the historic center, but never stop for a visit. Here is why you should.

On a Peru trip, final destination Machu Picchu, via Cusco, most travelers with accommodation in the historic center are likely to pass by the Pachucutec Monument on the way from the airport or the bus terminal. Located in a roundabout of the same name, Ovalo Pachucutec, is by now an unmistakable landmark in Cusco geographic iconography. Given its size, most travelers are likely to notice the monument, a few snap pictures of it, but only a very small minority of travelers actually take the time to visit the monument, which doubles as a museum dedicated to this, probably the most important of the Inca emperors.

The monument is cylindrical in shape and is in the form of a kero, which the Inca used as a ceremonial vase to store sacred objects. An enormous bronze statue of the Inca emperor Pachacutec crowns the monument. The statue is 11.5 meters in height, while the kero is 22.4 meters, for a combined total of 33.9 meters. Constructed over 14 months, the kero is made of just over 1,400 rocks and 20 stoneworkers from Cusco were employed to build it. Meanwhile, the statue is made of bronze, weighs approximately 17 tons, and was sculpted by Fausto Espinoza Farfan.

At the entrance to the monument, visitors will find the double entrance – also found in the Qoricancha (Temple of the the Sun), Sacsayhuman, Machu Picchu, and other Inca sites.

This monument to Pachacutec is just that – it honors the historical importance and enduring significance of this most important figure in the history of the Inca empire, who the British historian Sir Clement Markham called the “greatest man that the aboriginal race of America has produced.”

In Quechua, Pachacutec means “he who transformed the world.” This is in reference to his role in elevating the Inca civilization from a simple kingdom to an expansive empire. Under attack from the neighboring Chanca tribe, and in the absence of his father, the Inca emperor, who had fled Cusco, Pachacutec organized an army to fight back and defeat the incursion. After this, Pachacutec was declared emperor, and territorial and conquest became the norm for each successive Inca emperor.

Pachacutec accomplishments have been transformed into the stuff of legend. He is credited with various improvements to Cusco, including the channelization of the Tullumayo and Saphi rivers, the expansion of the Qoricancha (Temple of the Sun), and the beginning of the construction of Sacsayhuaman.

The monument traces the history and the legend and explains the ways in which the figure of Pachacutec remains important in the lives of the people of Cusco even in the twenty-first century.

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