Inti Raymi

The Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun, brings the Inca Empire back to life on June 24 each year. The remembrance of Pachacuti, remembered as the first Inca Emperor, haunts during the celebration that honor Inti, the Sun god. The Inca presides over the whole ceremony that begins at the Qoricancha, Temple of the Sun—once the most important building in the empire. The Spaniards built the Santo Domingo church on top of Qoricancha’s finest Inca stonework. According to Spanish chroniclers, most of the interior walls in the Qoricancha were covered with gold plates.

Later on the day, the celebration of the Inti Raymi moves up to Sacsayhuaman, an impressive site that adds to the feeling of being back in time. The setting is enhanced by a real background of walls made of huge stones that were put together with absolute precision by the Incas. Over 30,000 people, mostly Inca descendants as well as many tourists from around the world, attend the 3-hour ritual.

Many artists from different Andean communities come to Sacsayhuaman to participate in the Inti Raymi. They filled the celebration with their rich cultural traditions, performing a colorful choreography with live folk music. The rituals include offerings to the Sun, such as the drinking of chicha—a fermented corn beer—as well as offerings of wood, gold, and silver objects depicting the Incas' world. The Inti Raymi reaches its climax with the reenactment of a llama sacrifice, which ends when an Inca priest extirpates the animal’s heart to reveal the omens of the future.