The Inti Raymi or “Festival of the Sun” was the biggest festivity, most important, spectacular and magnificent celebrated during the Inca times. Today, the city of Cusco celebrates every June 24th the winter solstice, in other words the beginning of the New Year of the Sun: The Inti Raymi.
The Inti Raymi starts in the Qoricancha, then the Inca goes to the Plaza de Armas and continues performing the main ceremony at the Esplanade of Sacsaywaman.
Formerly, when Cusco was only inhabited by the royal family, priests and important people of the empire, the religious ceremony was performed every year in the main square of Cusco. Then, with the Spanish conquest, the ceremony was forbidden because it was considered a pagan ceremony. However, the subjects of the Inca continued celebrating the feast in secret from the Spanish authorities, and a mestizo named Garcilaso de la Vega collected in his famous Comentarios Reales, descriptions of this event unique.
Today, the Inti Raymi is held annually on June 24, the date on which they also celebrate the Day of the Indian in Peru. To date this representation has a documented script and takes place on the esplanade of Sacsayhuaman and at venues such as the Qoricancha temple courtyard and the main square of Cusco. From here, the royal procession of the Inca moves to Sacsayhuaman esplanade, where visitors and local audiences, are installed on platforms and in the surrounding area, surpassing the 100,000 spectators.
Trip itinerary:
Day 1 – Lima
•Assistance airport / airport hotel (private English speaking transfer)
•Overnight in Lima
Day 2 – Lima / Cusco / Sacred Valley
•Assistance airport hotel / airport (private English speaking transfer)
•Transfer airport / hotel (private English speaking transfer)
•HD Awanacancha & Pisac Market (private English speaking guide)
•Overnight in the Sacred Valley
Day 3 – Sacred Valley / Machu Picchu
•FD tour to Machu Picchu via roundtrip Vistadome train (private English speaking guide)
•Lunch at local restaurant (set menu)
•Overnight in Aguas Calientes
Day 4 – Machu Picchu / Cusco
•Morning at leisure (no re-entry ticket, no bus, no lunch, no guide)
•Afternoon return to Cusco, then transfer to hotel (private English speaking transferman)
•Overnight in Cusco
Day 5 – Cusco
•FD Inti Raymi Festival including box lunch
•Overnight in Cusco
Day 6 – Cusco / Lima
•AM: At leisure
oOptional: HD City walking tour in Cusco. (private English speaking guide)
•PM: Transfer hotel / airport (private English speaking transfer)
•Assistance with your international flight (private English speaking transfer)
Commissionable rate from $1,880 based on double occupancy.
Metropolitan Touring, www.metropolitan-touring.com