The Andean Baroque Route is a

scenic route A scenic route, tourist road, tourist drive, scenic byway, or holiday road is a specially designated road or waterway that travels through an area of natural or cultural beauty. It often passes by scenic viewpoints. The designation is usually de ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

mainly dedicated to 4 churches belonging to the

Andean Baroque Andean Baroque (Spanish: ''Barroco andino'' or ''arquitectura mestiza'') is an artistic movement that appeared in colonial Peru between 1680 and 1780. It is located geographically between Arequipa and Lake Titicaca in what is now Peru, where rul ...

artistic movement, including the Society of Jesus Church of Cusco and the Saint Peter the Apostle Church of Andahuaylillas. There are two possible versions of this route: one short and one long. The short route passes through

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

, Andahuaylillas, Huaro and Urcos towards

lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...

and Bolivia. The long route includes these same stages but continues towards

Puerto Maldonado Puerto Maldonado () is a city in southeastern Peru in the Amazon rainforest west of the Bolivian border, located at the confluence of the Tambopata River, Tambopata and Madre de Dios River, Madre de Dios rivers. The latter river joins the Madeira ...

after reaching Urcos. It passes through Ccatcca, Ocongate and Marcapata.

Short Route

Society of Jesus Church - Cusco

The construction of the church began in 1576 at the initiative of the

jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

on the top of the Amarucancha, the Palace of the Inca

Huayna Capac Huayna Capac (; Cuzco Quechua: ''Wayna Qhapaq'' ) (before 14931527) was the third Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. He was the son of and successor to Túpac Inca Yupanqui,Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro; 2015, originally published in Sp ...

. The church is considered to be one of the most beautiful representations of the colonial baroque art in America. Its spectacular façade, the highest of the Cusquenian churches, is entirely made of stones. Inside, one can see an altar covered with gold leaves built over an underground chapel. The church has a significant collection of sculptures and paintings such as “the wedding of

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

’s nephew”.

Saint Peter the Apostle Church - Andahuaylillas

Saint Peter the Apostle Church of Andahuaylillas is nicknamed the

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel ( ; ; ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and ...

of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

because of the magnificent frescos adorning its walls. Andahuaylillas is a small town located 45 km away from

. The church, probably built on an ancient

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

site at the end of the 16th century, is covered with murals. One of them is signed by the Limenian painter

Luis de Riaño Luis de Riaño (1596–c. 1667) was a Peruvian criollo painter, active in the 17th-century. His work is an important representation of Cusco School, the Peruvian colonial painting style. De Riaño is best known for his frescos painted in the 1620s ...

in 1626.

Saint John the Baptist Church - Huaro

The small town of Huaro is located 4 km south of Andahuaylillas. Its white church dedicated to

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

was built at the end of the 17th century. Its structure, made up of a single

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, is of classic style. Its façade is enlivened by indigenous decorations and flanked by a

bell gable The bell gable (, , ) is an architectural element crowning the upper end of the wall of church buildings, usually in lieu of a church tower. It consists of a gable end in stone, with small hollow semi-circular arches where the church bells are ...

. Inside, the Renaissance altar is among the oldest of Peru. However, the magnificent pair of frescos made by Tadeo Escalante, situated on both sides of the entrance gate, is undoubtedly the most fascinating artwork in the church.

Canincunca Chapel - Urcos

The Canincunca chapel dedicated to the

Virgin of Candelaria The Virgin of Candelaria or Our Lady of Candelaria ( or ''Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria'') (), popularly called ''La Morenita'', celebrates the Virgin Mary on the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands (Spain). The center of worship is l ...

was probably built at the beginning of the 17th century for the purpose of evangelizing the indigenous populations. It stands above Urcos´ lake on a significant pre-Hispanic site. The cemetery that sits on the hill behind the chapel holds remains that date back to the Incan Empire. The inside of the chapel contains an Andean Baroque iconography such as representations of

viscacha Viscacha or vizcacha (, ) are rodents of two genera ('' Lagidium'' and '' Lagostomus'') in the family Chinchillidae. They are native to South America and convergently resemble rabbits. The five extant species of viscacha are: *The Plains vi ...

s and a representation of the

Long Route

Saint John the Baptist Church - Ccatcca

The small town of Ccatcca boasts of a splendid baroque church dedicated to Saint

Saint Paul Church - Ocongate

The church shows aspects of

churrigueresque Churrigueresque (; Spanish: ''Churrigueresco''), also but less commonly "Ultra Baroque", refers to a Spanish Baroque style of elaborate sculptural architectural ornament which emerged as a manner of stucco decoration in Spain in the late 17th c ...

baroque as well as neoclassicism. It contains several paintings of the famous Cusquenian painter

Diego Quispe Tito Diego Quispe Tito (1611–1681) was a Quechua painter from Peru. He is considered the leader of the Cuzco School of painting.Bethell, Leslie. ''The Cambridge History of Latin America'', Cambridge University Press (1995), p.742. . Despite the prev ...

Saint Francis of Assisi Church - Marcapata

The little town of Marcapata situated in a beautiful place between the Andes and the Amazonian forest is renowned for its thermal springs (the hottest in Peru). Its church, dedicated to Saint

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

, is made entirely of

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

adorned with a thatch roof. A small garden hidden behind a wall of bricks decorates the outside of the church. Remarkable paintings representing persons, animals, and plants cover the walls and the ceiling of the church.

Other sites of interest on the Route

There are several sites of interest unrelated to the baroque churches on the Andean Baroque Route such as the pre-Hispanic archaeological sites of Tipón and Piquillakta located between

and Andahuaylillas or Mount

Ausangate Ausangate or Auzangateescale.minedu.gob.pe - UGEL map of the Quispicanchi Province 1 (Cusco Region) (in Hispanicized spellings) is a mountain of the Vilcanota mountain range in the Andes of Peru. With an elevation of 6,384 metres, it is sit ...

, renowned for its hiking trails and its Qoyllurit'i festival.