Do you know why this street is called the Slope of Bitterness in Cusco? I know it is strange to hear it called the Bitterness, however, this street has a very old history, and many locals tell us why this place is called this way.
The villagers tell us that when the Spaniards invaded the city of Cusco, they went to Sacsayhuaman to bring the huge stones to build their buildings, but to bring all these stones down to the center of the city, the invaders made the Indians stop rolling the rocks.
Yes, as you can see all the rocks had to roll down this slope of 200 steps, hence the name; since it was very difficult because it was a very steep street that just going up is already tiring, imagine rolling rocks down there, it is a real suffering.
It is said that some Indians were in charge of lowering the huge rocks from the top to the base, all this work brought serious damage and even fatal for some, for this reason the locals of that time would have named it as "Mucchuicata" which in Spanish would mean "Slope of Bitterness".
The writer Angel Carreño tells us in his book Origen de los nombres del Cuzco Colonial, that "down this steep street the huge stones rolled down the slope and were held with great difficulty by dozens of Indians armed with gates and as a result of this hard work many of them had broken feet; and their Spanish foremen made them work at the point of whip and stick from dawn to dusk with a payment of one ardite (coin of very little value) for the tears and sufferings to which they were subjected".
Currently, this street is very used by the locals who live in these places, but also in the Intiraymi festival because all those who go to see this great festival in the archaeological complex of Sacsayhuaman have to climb these steps to see one of the biggest festivals in Latin America.
In the place you can see several handicraft stores, the Mirador de San Cristobal and beyond the road to the fortress of Sacsayhuaman.
From the Plaza de Armas of Cusco you must go in the direction of Plateros street, then go up Tigre street and from there follow Tecsecocha street which is located at the top and will take you directly to Slope of Bitterness street.
