Two architectural styles coexist in Cusco, once the capital of the Inca Empire. The Spanish conquest in the 16th century, churches and manor houses were built over the inca city.
The Inca walls are built with locally available materials, granite or limestone. The large stones have being cut along their natural fracture lines and fit together with incredible accuracy, without mortar, in a slight inclination inside as the wall is constructed upwards.
Their dynamic steadiness allows them to be antiseismic and that helped them withstand many earthquakes which was not the case for the Spanish colonial baroque architecture features built on top of these walls in Cusco.
Another remarkable fact is the way the stones were cut. Very precise way of cutting and using bronze and copper tools, wood and water: Crack open where the natural fracture lines were, small pieces of wood were fit in and water that was poured on top made the wood expend allowing for bigger pieces of wood to be fit in the cracks and the process was repeated…
The famous 12-angled stone can be seen in Cusco, in calle Hatun Rumiyoc
The most impressive dry stone walls I’ve ever seen..
Colonian architecture is also impressive, what stood out for me was the wood-carved balconies on white stucco walls.
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