Quenko is located in the Archaeological Park of Sacsayhuaman ( Parque Arqueológico de Sacsayhuamán ) located to the north of Cusco (Qosqo). The park embraces 3,000 hectares approximately, where you can see a rich Andean flora and fauna, including llamas, kestrels and hawks. It also contains many archaeological monuments. Quenko is located on a small hill called Socorro, it is a temple or oracle. It is located just a few minutes away from Puca Pucara. It is one of the 300 temples of the Inca Empire that was tied to the Temple of Koricancha along one of the cardinal lines that lead from there. This small archeological site is made up of limestone. It has two parts, one called the "Great Carved Rock" and a semicircular plaza called the "Amphitheater". On the "Great Carved Rock" we see a natural rock formation on which there are carved figures of animals, such as reptiles, felines and two cylindrical figures or shapes. In another part of the "Great Carved Rock" area we can see a figure in bass-relief with broken lines that ends in a hole that leads to an underground gallery located below the rock in which we find square and rectangular carvings facing an open plaza-like space with many engraved figures. The Amphitheater, is a great elliptical wall with 19 niches that appear to be wide seats or thrones on the west side, and an interesting monolith of about 13 feet in height on the east side. Huayna Capac Inca (at the end of the 15th century) ordered the construction of Quenko for funeral rituals. Quenko also looks like it could have functioned as an astronomical observatory similar to that in Machupicchu called "The Princess Tomb". Less than 1500 feet away we find another archaeological site with similar characteristics called "Little Quenko", where we find a series of carved rocks and seats of stone. The monument is surrounded by a wall with granite stones laid out in a square. Qenko is very interesting and different from most Inca ruins. In some respects, Quenko looks as if it were entirely carved from one massive rock, about 300+ feet long. Until 1934, the whole ruins was covered beneath about nine feet of earth. We will show large photos of the most important features followed by smaller photos of the walk into the underground areas. We were at Quenko at about 3:47 PM on the afternoon of April 18, 2006.
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| The Quenko "Great Carved Rock" Looks Like It Is Carved From One Massive Rock, About 300+ Feet Long |
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| The Quenko "Great Carved Rock" Looks Like It Is Carved From One Massive Rock, About 300+ Feet Long |
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| The Quenko Amphitheater, A Great Elliptical Wall With 19 Niches |
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| The Quenko Amphitheater Monolith Stone |
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| The Quenko Amphitheater Monolith Stone |
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| We Take The Trail Opening On The Left Of The Large Stone Into The Underground Gallary |
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| The Quenko Underground Gallary Stone Throne Or Altar |
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We're Glad You Stopped By! Come back soon!
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| A Young Man & His Dog | View From Quenko, Cusco Below |
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| Quenko Amphitheater Wall | Quenko Amphitheater Water Structure |
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| Quenko Amphitheater Wall | Quenko Amphitheater Wall |
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| Taking The Trail Left Of The Large Rock | Following Guide Juan Gonzales We Begin Our Walk Into The Underground Areas |
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| Look At This Sun Light Alignment Similar To Other Ancient Solstice Or Equinox Alignments | Going A Few Feet Deeper Into The Sacred Area |
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| Underground Sacred Structures | Underground Sacred Structures |
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| Underground Sacred Structures | Underground Sacred Structures |
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| Underground Sacred Structures | Underground Sacred Structures |
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| Underground Sacred Structures | Underground Sacred Structures |
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| Underground Sacred Structures | Underground Sacred Structures |
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| Underground Sacred Structures | Underground Sacred Structures |
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| Walking Up These Steps | We Emerge Back Into The Middle World |
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| Once More Into The Middle World | The Area Around Quenko |
