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It is a district in the Urubamba province, 30 Kms.
(19 miles) away through the paved road, northwest from Qosqo. Its
altitude is 3780 mts. (12400 feet), over a plateau that is cold during
the early mornings and at night time. It was one of the most important
Inkan towns in the region, where even today it is possible to see
vestiges of its great past. The meaning of its original name is lost;
although, today tradition knows it as the "land of the rainbow" because
over here the K'uychi (rainbow) is frequently seen in the rainy season.
As it is known the rainbow was a special deity among Inkas; it had a
temple inside the Qosqo's Qorikancha, and still today in many regions of
the Andes people respect, fear or even revere it. Alfonsina Barrionuevo,
about the behavior of people in front of a rainbow says, "... It is not
possible to watch the rainbow, they say superstitiously, without
covering the mouth because it rots the teeth. Neither it is possible to
point it with the finger because it undermines the bones. Maidens run
away from it because if it catches them in the countryside, it has
children with them".
Lamentably, as in most of the towns or temples near Qosqo, Chinchero was
wrecked and modified by the "idolatries extirpators". Its destruction
began when Manko Inka after his campaign in Qosqo decided to discharge
his soldiers so that they could go back to their farmlands and take care
of their families; he went towards Ollantaytambo passing through
Chinchero and burning it so that the invaders who were persecuting him
could not have either food or lodging. Subsequently in 1572, Viceroy
Toledo founded the "Doctrine of Our Lady of Monserrat of Chinchero" and
ordered construction of the present-day Catholic Church that was
finished by the first years of the XVII century; possibly in 1607, that
is the year found in the writing over the main arch inside the church.
The whole church was built using as foundations the finely carved
limestones that belonged to a great Inkan palace. The entrails of the
fine Inkan building were filled up as high as the roofs with earth
brought from some other sectors. It was in the 1960s when the Inkan
palace was discovered under the Catholic Church. The Inkan palace must
have been very important because on its facade facing to the southern
plain presents openings of triple jamb that by themselves indicate its
category. Farther south from the plain there are two "wakas" (shrines)
carved on outcrop limestone formations; today they are known as
"Chinkana" and "Titiqaqa". Towards the west there is another shrine
named as "Pumaqaqa" where it is possible to observe on the in-situ rock
sculptures of two pumas which heads were mutilated. Farther west from
the mentioned plain there are, even more, a large amount of farming
terraces that are still cultivated in spite of having lost their
aqueducts.
On the southeastern side of the church is another great plaza that today
is the town's Main Plaza. On its western side there is a wall containing
big trapezoidal niches that can easily let a person stand up inside;
they must have been used to keep the nobility mummies and idols that
presided over ancestral ceremonies. That wall with niches has a genuine
carved andesite cornice. By the middle of this plaza is a bust honoring
Mateo García Pumakawa Chiwant'ito who was born in the house located in
front of the bust; the house has small arch windows on the second floor.
Mateo Pumakawa was Chinchero's Quechua chief, Official and Warrant
Officer paid by the Spanish army; he fought against the Tupaq Amaru II
Revolution helping to bring about his defeat in 1781. When being old
aged he wanted to repay what he did against his people and race and
joined the Angulo brothers in order to fight against the Spanish crown.
But, he was defeated and hung from an arch like the ones that are seen
in Chinchero, in Sicuani in 1814.
After the Tupaq Amaru defeat, Pumakawa made paint his victory in frescos
over the church's gate: by the middle is the Monserrat Virgin, to her
right is the victory celebration that coincides with the Thanksgiving
procession and the presence of Saint Paul, and Saint Peter holding in
his hand the heaven's keys. Toward the left side of the Virgin is the
battle representing chaos and Tupaq Amaru's faction. More over, there
are images representing Pumakawa symbolized in form of fighting
victorious Pumas; and other images representing Tupaq Amaru symbolized
by the "amaru" (serpent-dragon) as chaos and squalor representation.
Inside the church there is a canvas representing the same dark-skinned
Monserrat Virgin, where it is possible to see angels sawing the
mountain; that artwork was painted by Quechua Cusquenian School artist
Francisco Chiwant'ito and dated in 1693. Juan Carlos Estenssoro wrote
about that canvas: " This Virgin, although, Spanish typically, is
related with some others of the purely Andean imagery such as the Virgin
of Galleries, in which Virgin and mountain are confused".
In Chinchero, every Sunday morning there is a nice native market, which
is one of the most typical and commendable ones in the region. Over here
it is still possible to observe bartering of goods, and almost always
people exchange tropical goods such as fruits, coca leaves or salt for
some other regional goods such as potatoes, broad beans, ollucos, etc.
Also over here, there is a market for tourists with diverse handicrafts
with very well made weavings standing out. Unlike some other markets
where merchants are foreigners, over here merchants are native regional
people.
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