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P E R U

CUSCO PICTURES

SPANISH VERSION

SIERPES HOUSE

Address: Plaza de las Nazarenas (next to the Monasterio Hotel)
Admission time: Restricted entrance.

According to the tradition, Las Sierpes House was established as an"yachayhuasi" or school where they taught people in the Amarucata (in Quechua "slope of the snake") inside the Inca town of Pumacurco. Thus there are so many relieves in snake shape that explain the popular denomination of this house and the lateral narrow pass of "Siete culebras".

The owners
After the Spanish conquest, the manor house became property of Maniso Sierra de Leguizamo, Spanish conqueror who was famous for having one of the golden suns of the Koricancha, treasure that he lost playing one night.

It is said that some time after that, the house belonged to Maria Calderon who was the wife of the Captain Jeronimo de Villegas and godmother of the master Francisco de Carvajal. He punished her to death for being "insolent" and according to the legend, her body was hung from a corner window that we can still see today.

Cultural Cusco Introduction

Mansions Introduction

   * El Cabildo
   * The Inquisition
   * Palace of the
     Admiral
   * House of the
     Four Busts
   * Casa de la Calle
     Tiger
   * Casa de las
     Sierpes
   * Casa Cabrera
   * House of Inca
     Garcilazo de la
     Vega
   * House of
     Marquis de
     Picoaga
   * House of
     Marquis de
     Valleumbroso
   * House of
     Marquis de
     Escobar
   * House of Silva
   * Clorinda Matto
     House

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Snakes of stone
The showiest ornaments of its facade are the snakes or dragons holding the nobiliary coat of arms over the wall of Inca stonework. In 1715, the farm turned into a convent for the shoeless "Nazarenas", the name of the square comes from them. At that time, they built the second body to the facade and the bell gable typical details of the baroque style of Cusco. It continued being a monastery until 1978, then the House was given to the "Copesco" Plan.

CASA CABRERA

Address: Plaza de las Nazarenas 231
Telephone: 23-3210
Admission time: Mon- Fri from 8:00 to 18:00. Free entrance
Description: Situated in the square of Nazarenas, outstanding on the facade we admire the nobiliary coat of arms, it has a wide patio, arches and spacious rooms.

This House is on the "Plaza de las Nazarenas" and its especial architectonic display is the result of a long history. Its first construction dates from the middle of XVI century. At that time, it belonged to the conqueror Alonso Diaz, son in law of Pedrarias and partner of Hernandes Giron in the civil war the commissionaires had against the Royal Tribunal.

After Giron lost the war, Alonso Diaz was beheaded and his house turned into a "half breed concentration house" dedicated to the daughters of those conquerors who died while fighting. In 1556, the monastery of Santa Clara was established there and it continued until 1622, when the nuns moved to the lands they currently occupy. In that occasion the church and the cloisters became property of Jeronimo Luis de Cabrera: a successful neighbour that gave his name to the farm.

The structure
Cabrera divided the nave of the church, carved a facade with his coat of arms and opened windows and balconies giving to this building its definitive external appearance. But even today, the elevation of this house over the level of the street reminds us about its old ecclesiastic origin. During Republic times, the patio changed completely adding the metallic balustrade to the high gallery. Between 1981 and 1986, the building was fully restored to become a bank. Today, it shelters the cultural rooms of the Banco Continental and continues having an active presence in Cusco.