When the afternoon arrived we decided to venture out to the Plaza de Armas and take in the Corpus Christi festivities. Not really knowing what to expect beforehand I was surprised at the amount of people out and about. It was slow going but we eventually made it to the Plaza de Armas. Knowing that we needed to get higher to have a great vantage point we found an Irish pub, Paddys, that faced the Plaza. The majority of photos and panoramas were taken from this wonderful vantage point. According to the website Peru Travels:

“The festival of Corpus Christi has been celebrated all over Peru since colonial times, but reaches a high point in Cuzco. Fifteen saints and virgins from various districts are borne in a procession to the Cathedral where they “greet” the body of Christ embodied in the Sacred Host, kept in a fabulous gold goblet weighing 26 kilos and standing 1.2 meters high. Sixty days after Easter Sunday, the members of each nearby church bear their patron saint in a procession to the chimes of the María Angola, Peru’s largest church bell, forged in a copper-gold alloy in the sixteenth century by local artisan Diego Arias de Cerda. At night everyone gathers together, for an overnight vigil, where typical dishes such as chiriuchu (spicy guinea pig), beer, chicha and cornbread are served. At dawn the procession sets off around the main square, bearing the images of five virgins clad in richly embroidered tunics, plus the images of four saints: Sebastian, Blas, Joseph and the Apostle Santiago (Saint James) mounted on a beautiful white horse. Then the saints enter the Cathedral to receive homage, time after which representatives and authorities from various communities of Cuzco meet in the main square to discuss local affairs. Finally, the delegations return to the churches amidst hymns and prayers.”