Chincana Tunnels (beneath Cusco)
Long dismissed as legend, tunnels beneath Cusco have been confirmed by ground-penetrating radar: a passage of about 1,750 m is thought to link Sacsayhuamán to the Temple of the Sun (Coricancha).
- Location
- Peru · Americas
- Civilisation
- Inca
- Period
- ~1450 AD (Inca)
- Technique
- Underground galleries with trapezoidal stone walls and lintels, covered with earth
- Studies
- confirmed by ground-penetrating radar 2024–2025
real support, not settled. A revisable snapshot of the state of research, never a judgement.
→ Show on the mapThe elements of the site
Where the site is
13.510° S, 71.982° W · satellite view
What science says
The « chincana » (labyrinth, in Quechua) is confirmed by a team of Cusco archaeologists (J. Calero Flores, M. Fernández Palomino) via ground-penetrating radar and acoustic survey: a tunnel of ~1,750 m, 1.4–2.5 m deep, links Sacsayhuamán and Coricancha.
Two branches toward Muyumarca and Callispuquio suggest a use beyond ritual (transport, communication). Trapezoidal stone walls and lintels, invisible at the surface.
The results align with 16th–18th c. sources, including Garcilaso de la Vega (1609), who described « underground streets » linking the fortress to the temple.
What remains unexplained
Related to
Studies & sources
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