Plazoleta de San Blas, Heritage square in San Blas district, Cusco, Peru

Plazoleta de San Blas is a stone-paved square in the San Blas neighborhood, surrounded by traditional adobe buildings, art galleries, and craft shops with a central stone fountain at its heart. The space sits on a slope and connects through stone steps to nearby streets, creating natural access to restaurants, accommodations, and artisan workshops throughout the area.

This square was built over the former Inca neighborhood of T'oqokachi, which once held tombs of Inca rulers and a shrine to Illapa, a deity of storms and water. The pre-Hispanic layout and sacred sites beneath the current streets have shaped the development of this neighborhood over centuries.

Painters and sketch artists set up in the square and offer portraits on the spot, a practice that has become part of daily life here. The church beside the square, built over an Inca sanctuary to Illapa, holds a carved wooden pulpit attributed to the Cusco school. The neighborhood was elevated to an indigenous parish after the Spanish founding of Cusco, considered the city's first parish.

The square sits on a slope with multiple levels accessed by stone steps, so wearing proper footwear is essential for comfortable movement around the area. Morning visits tend to be less crowded, giving you more room to explore the galleries and shops without feeling rushed.

The paqcha on the square's northeastern wall was built in the 1990s under mayor Daniel Estrada Pérez, not by the Incas: it recalls the several springs that once existed in this area. The square's best-known view, it sits at the Tandapata end, where steps climb the slope.