2 Best Sights in Cusco and the Sacred Valley, Peru

With park benches, green lawns, and splendid views of the Catedral, Cusco's gorgeous colonial Plaza de Armas invites you to stay awhile. Take a seat on one of those park benches, and the world will come to you—without moving an inch, you'll be able to purchase postcards, paintings, and snacks, organize a trip to Machu Picchu, get your photograph taken, and get those dirty boots polished.

What you see today is a direct descendant of imperial Cusco's central square, which the Inca called the Haukaypata (the only name indicated on today's street signs) and which extended as far as the Plaza del Regocijo.

According to belief, this was the exact center of the Inca Empire, Tawantinsuyo, the Four Corners of the Earth. Today, continuing the tradition, it's the tourism epicenter. From the plaza you'll see the Catedral and Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús on two sides and the graceful archways of the colonial

or covered arcades, lining the other sides. Soft lighting bathes the plaza each evening and creates one of Cusco's iconic views. Many of the city's frequent parades (and some protests) pass through the plaza, especially on Sundays. Enjoy the views of colonial Cusco, but note that any attempt to sit on one of those inviting green lawns will prompt furious whistle-blowing from the police.

The little square in San Blas has a simple adobe church with one of the jewels of colonial art in the Americas—the pulpit of San Blas, an intricately carved 17th-century cedar pulpit, arguably Latin America's most ornate. Tradition holds that the work was hewn from a single tree trunk, but experts now believe it was assembled from 1,200 individually carved pieces. Figures of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Henry VIII—all opponents of Catholicism—as well as those representing the seven deadly sins are condemned for eternity to hold up the pulpit's base. The work is dominated by the triumphant figure of Christ. At his feet rests a human skull, not carved, but the real thing. It's thought to belong to Juan Tomás Tuyrutupac, the creator of the pulpit.