Inti Raymi: An ancestral celebration in the heart of Cusco

The Inti Raymi or Fiesta del Sol is one of the most important festivities in Cusco, in which the winter solstice is celebrated every June 24. In it, the Inca is in charge of performing a ritual to honor the most important deity of Tahuantinsuyo, the sun.

The rebirth of an ancestral tradition

Pachacútec, who was in charge of ordering the construction of Machu Picchu, established this celebration around 1430 and, despite having been prohibited by Viceroy Francisco de Toledo with the arrival of the Spanish, in 1944 Faustino Espinoza Navarro, through the story of the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, was in charge of writing, directing and representing the reconstruction of the Inti Raymi celebration.

At present, to commemorate the festival, a hundred actors wearing typical Inca clothing meet in the ceremonial Fortress of Sacsayhuamán and perform a representation of what was originally the invocation of the sun by the Inca.

The celebration begins in the Coricancha Temple (today the Santo Domingo Convent) with a salute to the sun. After this, the Inca and the mayor of Cusco meet in Haucaypata to finally carry out the central ceremony to the north of the city on the esplanade of Sacsayhuamán at more than 3600 meters above sea level.

Inti Raymi as one of the great traditions of the Inca Culture, gives tourists every June 24, the possibility of enjoying songs, characters with typical clothing and native music.

If you plan to make your first trip to the citadel of Machu Picchu, travel aboard our PeruRail Vistadome train where you will begin to experience the Andean culture through music and dances, starting from the Urubamba station, located in the heart of the valley. sacred and do not miss the magical opportunity to witness this ancestral celebration.