{"id":2300,"date":"2019-07-07T17:22:35","date_gmt":"2019-07-07T22:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freewalkingtoursperu.com\/la-piedra-de-los-12-angulos-una-gran-muestra-del-ingenio-inca\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T23:47:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T04:47:27","slug":"12-angled-stone-cusco-peru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freewalkingtoursperu.com\/en\/blog\/12-angled-stone-cusco-peru\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Angled Stone Cusco \u2014 Twelve-angled stone \u2014 12 Sided Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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1. History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 12 Angled Stone<\/em><\/strong> in Cusco <\/a>Peru | There are no writings by indigenous or spanish chroniclers about this stone under any connotation, this is because the Inca society had stone, mud and straw as their main resource for their buildings, this fact made the Inca societies and even pre-incas knowledgeable in masonry, we are sure that when the Spanish arrived they saw many stones with different shapes and \/ or carvings, which is why the 12 angled stone did not call much attention from the chroniclers. You can see other stones with many more angles such as the 20 angled stone or 32 angled stone in Qoricancha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Therefore from the historical point of view, what is pointed out about the place are based on the collective memories, science and studies carried out by well-known researchers for Peruvian anthropology, history and archeology such as Federico Kaufman, Julio Cesar Tello or Mar\u00eda Rostworowski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Architecture and Measurements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is no doubt that the Incas were experts in masonry for the abundance of lithic resources as well as the Vikings in carpentry because of the wood abundance(trees).<\/p>\n\n\n

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The 12 Angled Stone<\/strong> is very famous because of its carving and perfect fitting system into 12 surrounding stones around this piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Stone:<\/strong> Many Guides point out that this lithic unit was the “Mother Stone or the First Stone” placed for the construction of this Inca Palace, some tour guides also tell visitors that removing this stone from that wall would necessarily require dismantling the whole palace. We don\u00b4t doubt that there has been a first stone placed for this building, which must be at the foundation, which is not visible and nor it is known which stone that is!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To remove the 12 angled stone from the wall, di does not necessarily require destroying the entire palace, it would be enough to disassemble 10 to 15 lithic pieces from the wall, it is a technical matter, anyone can realize that observing the wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measurements:<\/strong> The 12 angled stone is approximately 1 meter high and 1.20 meters long, it is not gigantic stone as many people would think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weight and Type of Stone:<\/strong> According to the measurements and the type of stone, it weighs about 6 tons. It is a volcanic stone called green diorite, which means it is the lava of a volcano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carving and Transportation:<\/strong> There was a quarry located in San Blas neighbourhood (Tok’o Cachi neighbourhood in the Inca period), this quarry is very close to this palace, in the quarry the stone had to be broken using the expansion by fire, contraction by water, and friction by percussion, which was made with harder stones and bronze tools. The transportation of this stone was done by using ramps, ropes, wooden rollers and many people. The Carving of the stone was done using sand and harder meteoric stones – abrasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Legend of the 12 Sided Stone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is no legend about specifically this stone, however many people relate the number of the angles to the 12 disciples of Jesus or the 12 months of the year. We believe that those are simple speculations that are not based on real writings of any chronicler, nor there is any essay from nowadays about this possible correlation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the writings of Felipe Huaman Poma de Ayala, entitled the “New Chronicle and Good Government”, the indigenous chronicler tries to illustrate that pre-Hispanic societies, especially the Inca, were already “Christians” before the arrival of the Spaniards, the chronicler points out that the Inca society had a social order with a human face based on principles of reciprocity and redistribution that the Ayllus<\/a> (communities) use to practiced. Ideed he tries to make this correlation to disqualify the political, religious and economic decisions done against the indigenous people at the beginning of the colonial period by the Spanish, implying that in the Inca period, there was a society with more human values “Christians”. But he doesn\u00b4t mean anything about the twelve Incas and their correlation with the twelve apostles of Jesus, not even as a legend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion there is no legend like “Inkarri<\/a>” about the stone of the 12 angled stone, but speculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Details – Important information about the 12 Angled Stone<\/h2>\n\n\n
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4.1 Description and Meaning<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The 12-angled stone has a deep cultural meaning to the Locals and a crucial importance for the tourism sector; This fact is thanks to the physical characteristics of the stone, the polishing, the setting, the number of angles, the type of stone and the beautiful high relief that can be clearly seen. There is no doubt that if you are in Cusco, don\u00b4t miss this place!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.2 Where is it located? Location? Map?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This lithic piece is located in the historic center of Cusco<\/a> about 150 meters from the Plaza de Armas of Cusco, on Hatun Rumiyok street (means street with large stones). This monument or palace dates from the Inca period, it is calculated that it was built in the mid-13th century for the Inca emperor Rocca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n