From Noble Mansion to Beaterio de las Nazarenas

Abstract

This article is devoted to the history of one of the most interesting architectural complexes located in Cusco at Plaza de las Nazarenas (formerly Plaza de Santa Clara La Vieja). The paper traces buildings’ history and change of their function. To date, it has not been determined which of the conquistadors received the plot of land during the 1534 partition. It is known, however, that in the 1580s it belonged to Pedro Bernardo de Quiroza, who built his mansion there. Then the property was taken over by Antonio Ray Sambrana and his wife Ana Prado de Gallegos, to whom it belonged from 1607 to 1632. In the following years, the buildings temporarily changed their function and were turned into premises of the school for the sons of Indian caciques run by the Jesuits (Colegio de San Borja). In the late 17^th and early 18^th century, they regained their residential function and were successively the property of Juan Laso de la Vega, Antonia Cornel de Castilla, a widow of Captain Juan Ponce, and Rosa de Ponce de León. Eventually, the property was purchased by Pedro de Morcillo Rubio de Auñon, Bishop of Cusco, and given as the headquarters of the beaterium “de las Nazarenas”. At that time, the architectural complex underwent extensive reconstruction, which involved transformation of the interiors around two courtyards as well as construction and equipping of chapels. The buildings remained the property of the beaterium until the 1960s, when the institutions were abolished and the tertiaries from the community were incorporated into the Carmelite Missionary Order. Today, the former beaterium houses a hotel.