530 



c u s c o. 



C^sro. CUSCO, or Cvzco, the most ancient city of Peru, in 



»-*"Y™™»' South America, the capital of a corregiomento in that 

 viccroyalty, and the head of a bishopric. This city is 

 situated in south latitude 13° 42' 25", and in west lon- 

 gitude 7 1 J t' 15", being distant from Lima 184 leagues, 

 alid 2;)'.l from La Plata. It stands on very uneven 

 ground at the skirts of mountains, -which are watered by 

 the little river Guatanay, which, indeed, hardly exists 

 except in the months of January, February, and March, 

 its waters being through the other months of the year 

 almost dried up, though the little that remains in it 

 may still serve, in some degree, to irrigate the neigh- 

 bouring plains. Most of the houses are of stone. They 

 are well constructed, laid out in regular proportions, 

 and covered with tiles of a bright red colour. The a- 

 partments are spacious and finely decorated ; the mould- 

 ings of the doors are gilt, and the other ornaments 

 and furniture are in a style corresponding to the ele- 

 gance of the buildings, and the good taste for which 

 the inhabitants are so generally noted. The popula- 

 tion of this city is estimated by Alcedo at 26,000. It 

 suffered, however, greatly by a pestilence in 1720, and 

 of late years it has, very obviously, been in a declining 

 state. Three fourths of the inhabitants are stated to be 

 Indians, who are occupied chiefly in the manufacture 

 of baize, cotton and leather, likewise of ordinary cloth, 

 and a kind of linen used chiefly as clothing by the poor, 

 saddles, floor-carpets, galloons of gold, silver, and silk, 

 parchment, and other preparations from various skins. 

 The natives, who are of an ingenious disposition, are 

 also said to have a taste for painting, and to excel 

 in the arts of embroidery and engraving. They are, 

 in general, a very diligent, industrious people. The 

 government of the city was, after the time of the con- 

 quests made by the Spaniards, vested in a secular ca- 

 bildo, composed of two ordinary alcaldes, a royal ensign, 

 an alguazil-mayor, a provincial alcalde, a depositor-ge- 

 neral, twelve perpetual regidors, two alcaldes of the in- 

 quisition, and a regidor nominated annually with the 

 title of judge of the natives, who was entrusted with 

 the causes of the Indians : these having also a protec- 

 tor nominated every two years by the viceroy of Lima. 

 This cabildo derived from the grant of the emperor 

 Charles V. the same privileges which were enjoyed by 

 the cabildo of Burgos. The principal acting magis- 

 trates were a corregidor and two alcaldes, who, accord- 

 ing to the prevailing custom in all the cities of South 

 America, were chosen from among the chief nobility. 

 The noble Spanish families which had their residence 

 in this city, were formerly very numerous ; indeed it 

 was very full of Spaniards of all descriptions while it 

 continued to be in a prosperous and flourishing con- 

 dition. In 1 784-, the office of corregidor was extinguish- 

 ed here, when his majesty established an intendantand 

 governor vice-patron; and in 1787, the tribunal of 

 royal audience, composed of a president, four oidors, 

 and a fiscal. There are three colleges in Cusco. In 

 •ne of these, distinguished by the name of San Antoin 

 Abad, there is a seminary for the service of the cathe- 

 dral, in which are taught Latin, the sciences, and divi- 

 nity. Another of them, that of San Bernardo, which 

 was founded by a Vizcayan for the sons of the con- 

 querors, was formerly under the direction of the regulars 

 ef the society of Jesuits, and young men of fortune re- 

 sorted thither to be instructed by these fathers. It is 

 at present under an ecclesiastical rector. The branches 

 •f knowledge taught here were, as at the last men- 

 tioned seminary of education, grammar, philosophy, 

 H!id theology. The third* called St Francis de Borja, 



belonged also to the Jesuits, and was appointed for the 

 education of the sons of caziques or Indian princes, 

 where they were initiated in their letters ; and such of 

 them, at least, as shewed any disposition towards that 

 science, in the rudiments of music. By the two for- 

 mer of these colleges, all degrees arc conferred below 

 that of doctor ; and they have been erected into uni- 

 versities. The courts of justice established in this city 

 are, one for the revenue which consists of two judges^ 

 a court of inquisition, and one of the croisade, toge- 

 ther with the other offices usually found in the large 

 cities in this quarter of the world. 



Cusco is an episcopal city, and its bishop is suffragan 

 to the archbishop of Lima. The members of the ca- 

 thedral chapter, besides the bishop, are five dignitaries^ 

 viz. the dean, archdeacon, chanter, rector, and treasurer; 

 two canons by competition ; a magistral and peniten- 

 tiary ; three canons by presentation ; and two preben- 

 daries. The cathedral is a large, rich, and handsome 

 edifice, built entirely of stone. It is smaller than that 

 of Lima, but is by some preferred to it in point of 

 the architecture. The three curacies in the chapel of 

 the Sagrario belonging to it, are served by the same 

 number of priests, one of whom is for the Indians 

 and negroes of the parish, and the other two for the 

 Spaniards. There are, besides this, eight parishes in 

 or belonging to the city ; one of them, however, situa- 

 ted from it at the distance of one, and another of two 

 leagues. The parishes within the city, are those of 

 Neustra Senora de Belen, San Christoval, Santa Ana, 

 San Bias, Santiago, and the Hospital. The two others 

 are those of San Geronimo and San Sebastian. There 

 are here likewise nine convents of different religious 

 orders. One is that of the Dominicans, the principal 

 walls of which were formerly those of the temple of the 

 sun, and of which the high altar afterwards came to 

 occupy the place where once there had been a golden 

 image of that planet. The others are two belonging to 

 the Franciscans ; one to the Augustines, and one to the 

 Fathers of Mercy, which are severally the heads of their 

 respective orders in the province. One of the obser- 

 vers, another of the recoletans, and two colleges which 

 belonged to the regulars of the extinguished company 

 of the Jesuits, but of which the principal in the 

 part lying towards the east is now destined for an ar- 

 moury, and the other at the back of this, in which was 

 the house for noviciates and students, is occupied as 

 barracks for the troops ; to all which may be added, 

 the chapel of ease to the cathedral. The convent of 

 San Juan de Dios, and that of the Bethlemites, which 

 are botli very large, are now used as hospitals for the 

 sick ; the latter being appropriated to the Indians, who 

 are there treated with the greatest care and tender- 

 ness. Altogether there are four hospitals in the city. 

 The first and most ancient of these is that of the Espi- 

 ritu Santo. It is into it that Indians of both sexes are 

 received. The patronage of it is vested in the secular 

 cabildo ; and it is governed by a junta of 33 persons, 

 the president of whom, the alcalde, has the first vote, 

 and after him the administrator or first brother. There 

 are two chaplains belonging to this institution, and it 

 has very ample revenues, one of the sources of which 

 consisted in the duties paid upon all effects passing over 

 the neighbouring bridge on the Apuremac. Till the 

 year 1?6'3, these droits had belonged to the royal ex- 

 chequer, at which time, at the instance of the king's 

 ensign, Don Gabriel de Ugarte, they were conceded by 

 the king to the hospital, together with the right and 

 property of the bridge, in redemption of some crown 



Cusco. 



