chinkana & dominicans

“

There is not the slightest doubt that the Dominicans have known of the existence of the tunnel (chinkana) for many years, since since the time of Francisco Pizarro they were the first to discover it. After the 1650 earthquake, the area of the church built on top of the Inca temples was totally remodeled. Several crypts were built under the main altar and the transept, the ground and some areas that had been affected by the earthquake were modified. During these works, the Dominicans found the entrance to the tunnel (chinkana) near the sector of the Hall of the Sun. The subsoil of this sector had been closed by the Inca Huascar or his priests before the arrival of the conquerors, since through this access, the Inca evacuated part of the most important treasures of the Empire and had them deposited in special chambers under the Saqsaywaman complex.

“

Later, between 1985 and 1988, for unknown reasons (possibly due to the strong earthquake that occurred in 1986), the Dominicans decided to close it, block it and hide it permanently. All this closure was kept strictly secret and only some priors of the Convent knew about it. Father Gamarra, as Prior and architect of the Agreement that we signed with the Government and our society in the year 2000, knew that the chinkana existed due to information from his predecessors in office, but he did not know exactly where it was located within the Koricancha. nor the closure and its concealment that we mentioned.