11/10/2025
For the first time in twenty years, archaeologists have explored the interior of La Chinkana, an enigmatic network of Inca tunnels hidden beneath Cusco, long believed to be just a legend.
The galleries—thought to connect Sacsayhuamán with the Qoricancha, the Temple of the Sun—lie some twenty meters underground, revealing an astonishing system of passageways made of finely carved stone.
The discovery, led by Mildred Fernández and Jorge Calero from the Chinkana-Cusco Project, was confirmed through ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography, uncovering over 8,000 meters of tunnels.
Ancient chronicles by Garcilaso de la Vega and Fray Martín de Murúa described La Chinkana as a “serpent’s mouth,” a symbol of the Inca underworld, filled with myths and secrets yet to be revealed. 🐍✨