Church of San Blas, Baroque church building in San Blas district, Cusco, Peru
The Church of San Blas is a Baroque building with a plain stone facade located in the San Blas neighborhood of Cusco, Peru. Inside, the floor plan follows a Latin cross shape, and the walls are covered with colonial-era paintings and carved wooden details.
A first chapel was built in the early 17th century under orders from the Spanish colonial administration, but a major earthquake brought it down. The current building was reconstructed afterward, and the neighborhood grew and took shape around it over the following decades.
The church stands in the San Blas neighborhood, long known as the home of local craftspeople who still run small workshops in the surrounding streets. On Sundays, residents gather outside the stone doorway before and after Mass, giving the place a strong sense of community.
San Blas sits on a hill above central Cusco, and the streets leading to the church are steep and paved with uneven stone. Comfortable shoes are a must, and a morning visit tends to give better natural light inside the building.
The carved cedar pulpit inside is said to have a human skull embedded at its base, which local tradition links to the craftsman who made it. Whether or not the story is true, the pulpit dates from the late 17th century and features eight bronze portrait busts placed around its body.
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