One of the most disconcerting and ancient legends of the Andean cultures, is the one that refers to the existence of an extensive network of tunnels (“socabones” in old Spanish), built in times before the Incas, which cover a good part of the current Peruvian territory and lead to worlds of antediluvian origin hidden inside the Andes mountain range. The same legends and traditions assure that these tunnels start from Cusco (Navel of the World), as the central axis, towards the four directions of the Andean empire (Tahuantinsuyu), namely:
* Cajamarca in the Northwest * Tiahuanaco in the Southeast * Amazon Jungle in the Northeast * Atacama Desert in the Southwest
Conquerors, explorers, chroniclers, researchers and adventurers, from the
XVI century to our days, affirm that the Incas in the city of Cusco, used these tunnels for different
purposes and integrated some of their palaces and most important temples with them. There are many
reports that it was through these artificial galleries (known by the Quechua word, "chinkana", which
literally means labyrinth) how they outsmarted the Spanish conquerors, making disappear a good part
of the immeasurable riches of gold and silver that the twelve Inca dynasties had accumulated during his empire.
All the documents and stories transmitted that we have investigated from the time of Pizarro to the present
day, point indisputably and with conclusive evidence to two specific enclaves that would confirm the
existence of some important entrances to this immense network of tunnels used by the Incas: the walls of
Saqsaywaman , and the Temple of the Sun of the Incas - Koricancha (current Convent of Santo Domingo) in
Cusco, Peru.
Both archeology and official science, for the moment, have not investigated enough to unravel this mystery,
and what is even more important, rigorous and extensive excavations have not been carried out in the
precise places indicated by the ancient traditions.
The works and excavations carried out by Anselm Pi Rambla and his team in the current
Santo Domingo Convent and in the Saqsaywaman archaeological park confirm the existence of a tunnel
(chinkana) that starts from the Temple of the Sun (Koricancha) to inside the walls of Saqsaywaman and
connects according to all the chronicles with this immense network of tunnels that run through the
Peruvian Andes.
Almost five centuries ago the most fabulous
treasure that exists within the KORICANCHA or TEMPLE OF THE SUN OF THE INCAS
disappeared before the Spanish conquerors of Peru:
"tons of gold in the form of statues, solar disks, trees, flowers, birds,
pitchers, and ceremonial objects, were placed in safekeeping"
For many years there has been speculation that the most valuable and sacred pieces of
Inca gold had ended up in underground rooms that were accessed through long secret
tunnels existing in the subsoil of Cusco. Many chroniclers and researchers such as
Garcilaso de la Vega, Cieza de León, Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, Martin de Morua,
Sarmiento de Gamboa, Ernst Middendorf, William Montgomery McGovern, and even
Alexander Von Humboldt referred to this network of stories in their writings. tunnels.
Until now, its existence and origin had never been publicly documented. Many have
speculated about the purpose, age and creators of the network, and it is that,
ultimately, archaeologists, contrary to what one might think, have been the last to
dedicate themselves to investigating and gathering information about the enigma of
the tunnels of the Cusco.
For the first time in our time, thanks to the new technologies applied to cutting-edge
archaeological research (GPR - Georadar remote sensing systems), which allow the
detection of artificial structures in the subsoil at great depths, the researcher
ANSELM PI RAMBLA, a specialist in pre-Columbian cultures and his team,
have begun a systematic exploration in the Saqsaywaman
Archaeological Park and in the ancient Temple of the Sun (Koricancha), to unearth the
lost Inca ceremonial ensembles and clear up all the doubts of historians and
researchers about an enigma considered by many as a mere legend:
"the existence of an extensive network of tunnels of prodigious Inca manufacture,
which started from the Temple of the Sun (Koricancha), current Santo Domingo Convent,
and which would reach the archaeological area of Saqsaywaman, crossing the entire city
of Cusco and connecting on its way with the main Inca palaces of the time, being able
to house inside a good part of the Inca treasure hidden in that underground network at
the time of the Spanish conquest".