The Little Cusco Above the Mountains – Huchuy Qosqo

Inside the Sacred Valley we have this hidden gem, Huchuy Qosqo, as its name suggests ‘’Little Cusco’’, this beautiful archaeological center holds all the beauty of the Inca architecture and also the knowledge of the previous culture who lived there.
Located at 3,650 meters (11,980 feet) high, placed in the heart of the Sacred Valley and above the town of Lamay located at 2,920 metres (9,580 ft). The site was discovered in the 20th century and baptized as Huchuy Qosqo since then; previously it had been known as Caquia Xaquixaguana Kakya Qawani since it was constructed by a pre-Inca culture before the Inca came and made the changes we now can witness.

The construction is a mix between adobe and stone, but the most notorious feature is a kallanka or great hall which is 40 meters long. This section of the site provided water to the site, it was an Inca irrigation channel, lined up with the stones for about 800m.
During the Spanish invasion, Huchuy Qosqo was used as a farm due to the easy access to irrigation. Some of the larger reservoirs we can see today were constructed by them after destroying the building the Incas used during their time.
On the lower section we can find the Inca cooling storage system known as ´conjeras.´ this system was used at their ‘’qolqas’’ for dried meat and crops such as corn, potatoes, quinoa, and beans.

There’s still a lot to know about Huchuy Qosqo but the beauty of this site is remarkable, the construction also holds the Imperial style of the Inca architecture which was the top of the Inca civilization.
This site is connected to the Inca Trail, having a direct connection with the city of Cusco and the temple of the Sun or Qoricancha. Showing with this the great meaning this site had during the Inca empire. The exact function of Huchuy Qosqo is not yet discovered but holds the Inca design of every important center during the Inca era. A place for agriculture, a place to worship, a place to store food and a main water source.
Huchuy Qosqo also holds the Inca philosophy of the upper and lower world having construction on both areas showing their Hannan pacha and Uchu Pacha.

This site is not connected by the main road and needs to be j¿hiked in order to get there. Different agencies provide tours to this archeologycal site and we do as well, Alpaca Expeditions provide a 3D/2N Huchuy Qosqo trek to Machu Picchu visit. Some local people do this as a Huchuy Qosqo full day tour but you need to be familiar with the zone and also with trekking to be able to pull this out. You can get to Huchuy Qosqo trip from Lamay which takes 3 hours hiking up through steps and steep terrain or from Tauca which takes about 4 to 6 hours on foot, getting to a 4400 meters high Pass at the first portion of the trek to then getting almost the rest of the path as a downhill while visiting some other ruins.