This is a famous festival of the sun that attracts hundreds of visitors from all over the world each year to enjoy a cultural ritual filled with dance, music and history.

Meaning and history

“Inti Raymi’ is a simi rune expression (quechua), language of the Inkas, which means “Festival of the Sun”. The Inti Raymi is one of the biggest festivities in Peru. According to some historians, it was founded by the Inka Pachacutec (1349-1408 AD). It is an Andean celebration held in honor of the Apu Inti (sun god), which takes place on June 24 of each year.

Some chroniclers point out that the celebration of the sun marked the end of the agricultural year and gave way to the new agricultural cycle of July, so the period between the last week of June and the beginning of July is a transition interval. In ancient times, on the opening day of the ceremony, the Inka left the palace for Haucaypata, with a procession of more than 300 orejones, members of the Inka elite who had this name because they wore large gold earrings.

Today, the festival has 3 stages for its development: the Qorikancha or temple of the Sun, the Plaza de Armas of Cusco and, finally, Saqsaywaman. Every year it is witnessed live by nearly 100,000 people.