Zurite Terraces

Above the village of Zurite on the northern edge of the Anta plain, a flight of Inca terraces climbs the hillside in long curved steps, some of the retaining walls three or four metres high, running for a considerable distance along the slope. They are among the largest agricultural terrace systems in the Cusco region and they are still worked - potatoes, barley and beans on ground the Inca engineered, with the same drainage keeping the platforms from waterlogging. There is no ticket office, no signage and no tour circuit; the road from Cusco to Abancay passes below and almost every vehicle continues. A path leads up from the village square and the walk gives the whole staircase in section. The village itself has a colonial church and a plaza, and there is an unfinished Inca ceremonial sector, sometimes called Jaquijahuana, on the hillside above.

What you actually see

• The terrace flight - long curved steps with retaining walls metres high.
• The working farmland - Inca platforms still under crops today.
• The drainage - the original system still keeping the terraces from waterlogging.
• The absence of tourism - no ticket, no signs, no groups.

When to go

April to October for the walk, though the terraces are greenest just after the rains. One to two hours from the village square.

Honest expectations

No facilities and no interpretation at all - you are walking up a hillside through fields. The path is steep at 3,400 metres. This is farmed land; keep to tracks and edges. Nothing here is set up for visitors, which is the appeal and the limitation.

Nearby

Anta and the Cusco to Abancay road are below; Cusco is east.