Description of the attraction
The Temple of Our Lady of Mercy (La Merced) is located near Plaza de Armas, in the historic center of Cusco. Due to the earthquakes in this city, the Temple of Mercy was rebuilt and rebuilt several times.
The first church building was built in 1535 on land donated by the Marquis Francisco Pizarro. The present church replaced the first temple destroyed in 1650 by an earthquake. The Renaissance-style main entrance of the church is much less well-known than the side entrance, which is now used as a permanent one. The construction of the new church building was carried out between 1651-1659 by the architects Martin de Torres and Sebastian Martinez. The temple is made in the neoclassical style, decorated with columns, several side altars and the image of Our Lady of Mercy in the central part of the temple. Inside the crypt, which is located under the main altar of the church, are the remains of Gonzalo Pizarro, Francisco de Carvajal, Diego de Almagro the Elder (Pizarro's partner) and Almagro the Younger (Diego's son).
The building of the monastery of the Temple of Mercy is considered a real masterpiece. The entire structure of the building is made of stone. Its semicircular arches on small carved columns are repeated on the upper tier, which only adds air to the structure. For this reason, the design of the monastery is credited to the architect Torres, although some researchers are confident that the monastery was built by Diego Martinez de Oviedo, who belongs to a different generation of architects.
The monastery building is square with an arched entrance, thick rectangular columns and numerous frescoes on the walls illustrating the lives of the saints. There is a beautiful blooming garden in the center of the monastery. The monastery houses an exposition of the Museum of the Temple of Mercy.
The annual feast of the Virgin Mary of Mercy, patroness of this temple, is celebrated on September 24 with a beautiful procession in the streets of the city of Cuzco.
