The Temple of the Moon
There are many temples dedicated to the moon throughout the former Incario. (Many Peruvian historians dispute the term empire, as the Inca civilization was nothing like the empires of Europe and Asia.) This Temple of the Moon dates from long before the Incario. Similar to a huaca, it is natural stone, only slightly modified by carvings. A huaca can be a large boulder, a cliff or in this case, a giant piece of bedrock so large that it is an entire hill. As in many cultures around the world, the moon represented the female side of creation and the sun represented the male. The wide and low hillside contains a cleft that leads down into a cave. From just about any angle it can look like a vagina.
The steps leading down into the cave and the shelves carved into the cave walls are well preserved. Unfortunately, the bedrock here is limestone and all of the carvings on the top of the hill are badly weathered. Most of the stairs are still obviously stairs, but other carvings are so badly damaged by centuries of hard rain that it’s difficult to know what they could have looked like when they were first made.
It was likely made by the Killke people, who lived in the Cusco valley hundreds of years before the Inca established themselves here and began their domination of all of their neighbors. As with all towns, buildings and sacred sites, the Inca would have improved and refined the place, not destroying anything they took, but further developing it in a way that marked it as distinctly Inca.
The temple is only a twenty minute walk from my home, about half an hour from the popular touristy neighborhood San Blas. Being so close to such a beautiful spot was definitely a sanity saver during the worst of the pandemic and quarantine. If you’ve already adjusted to the altitude of Cusco, it’s a leisurely walk but beware if you have recently arrived at altitude. It would likely exhaust you quickly, leaving you short of breath and with a nasty headache.
From my home in Lucrepata, there is a network of side streets, staircases and ancient Inca roads that lead up towards the temple. I only have to cross one major road, Avenida Circunvalación, which is why I thought I could sneak up there even during the most restrictive weeks of quarantine in March and April. I left home at 5:30, so that it was still dark when I crossed the road. It worked for a couple weeks, until the police saw me. They didn’t say anything, but I knew better than to try again. People were fined and arrested for breaking quarantine rules through the end of May.
From the San Blas plaza or church, walk uphill on Calle Suyt’uqhatu, which becomes Jardines del Inca. When you get to the end of a street, take the path uphill from the street, which will take you to the Mirador Camino del Inca. Somewhere around the mirador you are likely to be joined by stray dogs. Depending on how you feel about strays, you can yell at them so they’ll go away, or talk nicely to them so they’ll hike with you. I usually bring a handful or two of dog food to reward the ones who stay with me the whole walk up and back. Sometimes I feed them up at the temple, sometimes when I am back down in town.
There are a couple dogs who hang out at the mirador that are my most reliable hiking companions, especially on my early morning hikes during quarantine. They hiked with me several times before I thought to bring them food and were always very gentle. Some of the strays like to be petted but be careful, because not all of them are so friendly. One benefit of taking a dog with you is that you will soon have your own pack and they can be very protective. Walking alone, several times I’ve had dogs join me who bark very aggressively at any men who pass me on the trail.
From Mirador Camino del Inca, follow the wide path that is obviously part of the Qapaq Ñan, the system of roads built during the Incario that stretch from Colombia down through most of Chile and from the Pacific Ocean into Bolivia and the Amazon jungle. Once you cross Avenida Circunvalación, you follow a steep road, paved with stone that unfortunately doesn't have a name. Less than halfway up, take the path to the right that follows a line of cyprus trees to the continuation of the Qapaq Ñan that you were walking on before you crossed the road.
As with all preserved sections of the Qapaq Ñan, the path is wide and lined with ancient walls, whose stones still fit together perfectly. These walls have withstood countless earthquakes in the past 500 years, or longer. Many were built long before the Spanish arrived in 1526, after which construction of Inca roads and buildings stopped. In fact, many were dismantled so that the Spanish could build their own churches and colonial structures with the perfectly cut stones.
It’s just under a kilometer up to the Temple of the Moon from the cyprus trees. On the way you pass by several old groves of large eucalyptus trees, and the Temple of the Monkey. When the path stops climbing and starts to level out, the giant chunk of limestone bedrock will be obvious on your left. Grazing in the fields on either side of the trail are horses, goats and sheep. The horses are used to take tourists up into the hills above Sacsayhuaman. The goats and sheep belong to the people who live in the hills around the temple.
Coming from town, you approach the temple from the back, where a large flight of stairs is fenced off from use. Hidden from view, is the back entrance to the cave. If you crawl under the wire fence, you will see the entrance at the base of the stairs. I do not recommend doing this. It is a sacred site, one that I am glad people here respect. The only time I have seen people on these stairs was on winter solstice, June 21st. They were emerging from the cave just before sunset, on the shortest day of the year. Each of them was dressed in full regalia, exactly what the recreations of Inti Raymi wear during a normal year, when Cusco is allowed to celebrate the sun on the solstice, just like their ancestors did before 1526.
Until September, 2020, the hills across from the temple were covered with eucalyptus trees. These trees were planted by the community of Yuncaypata, who moved from other towns to create their own village in the 1990s. They planted the eucalyptus decades ago, but cut them down during an argument with the Ministry of Culture. The hills above Cusco are covered with ancient temples, huaca and various constructions, Inca and Pre-Inca. Since these families moved in and planted their trees without any official permission, the Ministry of Culture is now trying to take some of their land back. Of course, the focus is on archeological sites, but there are so many that it’s hard to own or inhabit any land around Cusco that doesn’t contain some kind of archeological site.
After months of enjoying my walk up to the temple, it was a shock to one day see the forest being felled with chainsaws. At first I was outraged. How could they cut down a whole forest like that? The optimist in me hopes that the area will be replanted with native trees. Eucalyptus were imported by the Spanish because they grow fast, even in areas with little water, and they grow tall and straight, which is obviously ideal for building. Native trees, like the queuña, grow slowly and have twisted trunks. When they’re young they look more like shrubs than trees and they are excellent habitat for birds. They are also great for the understory of the forest and for the epiphytes that grow on them because their papery bark dissolves quickly in rain and is full of nitrogen, an important fertilizer. Eucalyptus have the opposite effect on the ecosystem, sucking all moisture and nutrients from the soil around them, making it next to impossible for any native plants to grow nearby.
The queuña tree
Just one queuña can be a habitat for all kinds of birds and epiphytes in its branches, with the bark it sheds nurturing smaller plants to grow at its base. A whole forest of queuña is a fabulous ecosystem.
The whole area around the Temple of the Moon is dry most of the year. Only during the rainy season, between January and April, is the place covered with wildflowers. When I was hiking around the temple during quarantine, there were wildflowers everywhere. With nobody to pick them, the place was much more colorful than most years. It’s beautiful what the Pachamama can do when we leave her alone. Except during quarantine and torrential downpours, the area around the temple is full of people having picnics, walking their dogs, taking their sheep out to graze, playing soccer on the fields along the trail and hiking through, on their way to other sites higher up in the hills.
Despite the number of people that are normally out enjoying the Temple of the Moon, there is a fabulous variety of birds to see. My favorites are the Sparkling Violetear Hummingbird and the American Kestrel. Hummingbird is qente in Quechua and kestrel is Ccilichu. The double c makes a hard k sound in the back of your throat, which you can make by hissing like a cat, then closing the back of your tongue against the back of your throat. More mini Quechua lessons to come in future blogs!
