The South Valley of Cusco: Tipon, Piquillacta, and the Sistine Chapel of America

The Best Kept Secret of the Cusco Andes

While the Sacred Valley attracts the vast majority of travelers heading to Machu Picchu, the South Valley of Cusco remains a peaceful, mystical alternative remarkably free of crowds. This route, which extends southeast along the highway connecting Cusco with Puno and Lake Titicaca, offers a perfect chronological journey through Andean history.

In a journey of just a few hours, you can go from exploring a mud metropolis built hundreds of years before the Incas, to marveling at the most perfect stone-carved water channels of the empire, and ending the day contemplating the splendor of colonial Baroque art. It is the ideal excursion for those looking to delve deeper into Andean culture without the fast pace of mass tourism.

Key Attractions of the South Valley

Tipon: The Water Temple and Supreme Hydraulic Engineering

Located just 23 kilometers from the city of Cusco, Tipon is a masterpiece of landscape and hydraulic architecture. The complex is made up of twelve impressive agricultural terraces flanked by perfectly polished stone walls, but its true attraction is the water that flows perpetually through its structures.

The Incas channeled a natural spring that wells up from the depths of the sacred mountain (Apu Pachatusan) and created a complex system of aqueducts, fountains, and stepped waterfalls. The precision of these channels is so astonishing that the water continues to run today with the same flow and the same melody that the Inca emperors listened to 500 years ago. The site functioned both as an agricultural experimentation laboratory for products from various altitudes and as a ceremonial sanctuary dedicated to the worship of water.

Piquillacta: The Urban Giant of the Wari Civilization

A few kilometers further down the route lies Piquillacta (which in Quechua means "Flea Town" or "Small Town," referring to the density of its buildings). This site offers a fascinating historical break: it is not Inca, but Wari, a civilization that flourished in the central Andes between 600 and 1000 AD, long before the rise of the Tahuantinsuyo.

Piquillacta was an immense fortified metropolis that served as the main administrative and military center of the Wari in southern Peru. Unlike the organic architecture of the Incas that adapts to the curves of the mountains, Piquillacta surprises visitors with its strict geometric and orthogonal urban design. The complex is composed of stone and mud walls up to 12 meters high that once housed hundreds of two-story homes, plazas, food storehouses, and perfectly straight streets that were once completely plastered with white gypsum.

Andahuaylillas: The Sistine Chapel of America

The highlight of the South Valley cultural tour is the picturesque, traditional village of Andahuaylillas, famous for its main square surrounded by gigantic pisonay trees. Facing this square rises the Church of San Pedro Apóstol, built by the Jesuit order at the beginning of the 17th century over the foundations of an Inca temple.

Although its exterior facade is made of adobe, white and relatively simple, stepping through its portal means entering an overwhelming universe of art and gold leaf. It is known worldwide as the "Sistine Chapel of America" due to the artistic richness covering every millimeter of its interior:

• The Mudéjar Ceiling: A polychrome, interlocking wooden coffered ceiling of clear Moorish influence, built entirely without the use of a single metal nail.
• Wall Paintings: Detailed frescoes covering the main walls, designed by colonial priests for the visual evangelization of the native population, depicting theatrical scenes of the paths to heaven and hell.
• Monumental Canvases: Dozens of oil paintings with gold-carved frames belonging to the most celebrated artists of the Cusco School.
• The High Altar: An imposing Baroque structure carved from cedar wood and covered entirely with sheets of pure gold that shimmer under the candlelight.

How to Visit the South Valley? Options and Transportation

Due to its proximity to the city of Cusco, the South Valley excursion is a half-day activity (usually taking between 4 and 5 hours in total). You have three main ways to complete it comfortably:

• Organized Agency Tour: Practically all agencies in the historic center of Cusco offer this tour daily, departing around 8:30 a.m. It includes minivan transportation and a bilingual guide service for the three attractions (Tipon, Piquillacta, and Andahuaylillas). It is the easiest and most economical way if you are traveling alone.
• Private Taxi Service: You can negotiate a flat rate with a trusted taxi driver in Cusco to take you to the three points on the route and wait for you at each one. This is the best alternative if you are traveling in a group or family and want total schedule flexibility to take photos without rushing.
• Public Transportation (For adventurers): You can take local buses heading toward the towns of Urcos or Oropesa from downtown Cusco. They will drop you off on the main highway, and from there you must walk or take local mototaxis up to the archaeological zones. It is highly economical but requires more time.

Tourist Tickets and Admissions on This Route

For the first two archaeological attractions of this tour, the access rules of the imperial region remain in effect:

• Tipon and Piquillacta: They are mandatory inclusions within the Cusco Tourist Ticket (BTC), specifically in Circuit II. You can use your 2-day partial ticket or your 10-day integral pass. Remember that individual entry tickets are not sold at the access checkpoints of these complexes.
• The Andahuaylillas Church: As a religious temple managed by the Archbishopric of Cusco and the Andean Baroque Route, it is not included in the Tourist Ticket. Admission is purchased directly at the ticket booth located next to the temple entrance (it costs approximately 15 Soles for foreign tourists and includes a helpful downloadable audio guide for your smartphone).

Gastronomy of the South Valley: The Feast of Chicharron and Cuy

No trip to the South Valley is complete without making a strategic stop for lunch in the specialized gastronomic towns dotting the highway:

Tipon (Town): Located at the base of the archaeological site, this town is famous for being the capital of baked Cuy (guinea pig). Local restaurants display their traditional wood-fired clay ovens where they roast the guinea pigs, seasoned with huacatay (black mint) and Andean spices.

Oropesa: Known as "The National Capital of Bread." If you pass through this town, it is mandatory to stop and buy the famous Chutas—gigantic, round breads with a slightly sweet and aniseed flavor, baked in traditional stone ovens that travelers buy by the dozen to take home.

Saylla: The undisputed temple of Cusco-style Chicharron (fried pork). Along the highway, you will see dozens of traditional picanterías where huge chunks of pork are fried in gigantic copper cauldrons with natural lard. It is served accompanied by mote (boiled tender white corn), golden potatoes, sarsa criolla (onion and mint salad), and a piece of bread.