Qorikancha, the “golden enclosure,” was the principal state sanctuary of the Inca capital of Cusco. Earlier sacred and political structures occupied the site, but Inca rulers, especially Pachacuti in the fifteenth century, monumentalized it as the Temple of the Sun. Finely fitted andesite walls enclosed shrines associated with the sun, moon, stars, thunder, and rainbow. Priests, chosen women, attendants, and imperial officials supported rituals that connected the ruling dynasty, agricultural cycles, conquered territories, and the sacred landscape.

Spanish chroniclers described gold sheets covering walls and a garden represented in precious metal, accounts that made Qorikancha a lasting symbol of imperial wealth. The sanctuary also served as the center from which conceptual lines called ceques radiated toward hundreds of huacas around the Cusco valley. Processions, offerings, mummified royal ancestors, and the great festival of Inti Raymi reinforced relationships between the emperor, deities, communities, and land. Tribute and sacred objects arriving from across Tawantinsuyu made the temple both a religious center and a statement of political integration.

After Francisco Pizarro's forces seized Atahualpa in 1532, precious metal from throughout the empire was collected for the ruler's ransom. Qorikancha's gold was stripped and melted. Spaniards occupied Cusco in 1533, and the temple complex was assigned to the Dominican order. The friars founded the convent of Santo Domingo in 1534, building church and cloister directly upon and around Inca walls. This act converted a center of state religion into a Christian institution while appropriating the masonry, land, and authority of the conquered capital.

Earthquakes repeatedly exposed the contrast between construction systems. Severe shocks in 1650 and 1950 damaged or destroyed major portions of the colonial church, while carefully fitted Inca walls survived with less damage. Rebuilding after 1650 produced much of the later convent, and restoration after 1950 revealed stonework that had been hidden behind plaster and additions. Archaeological and conservation work increasingly treated the Inca and colonial fabric as one layered historical complex rather than attempting to present only one period.

The convent remained an active religious house while Qorikancha became central to Indigenous and national interpretations of Cusco. Modern Inti Raymi celebrations begin nearby, reconnecting the location with solar ritual in a transformed public form. Visitors can see trapezoidal openings, curved masonry, colonial arcades, paintings, and earthquake repairs within the same ensemble. The site's history is therefore not a simple story of one building replacing another. Qorikancha and Santo Domingo preserve imperial ceremony, Spanish invasion, forced religious transformation, seismic destruction, colonial rebuilding, archaeological recovery, and the continuing negotiation of Inca and Catholic memory in the heart of Cusco. Spanish accounts of gold and ritual must be read cautiously because conquerors had motives to magnify treasure, condemn Indigenous religion, and justify seizure. Archaeology and Indigenous scholarship provide essential counterweights. Even the name and reconstruction of Qorikancha's original appearance are subjects of debate. The surviving masonry is powerful precisely because it resists a complete narrative: it records deliberate destruction and reuse while leaving important aspects of Inca practice beyond colonial description. Its layered walls make certainty itself a subject of historical interpretation.