Retablo

A time of wonder and tradition all over the World, Christmas in Cuzco has its own unique spectacular in the form of Santuranticuy – ‘Santur' a Quechua-ized word meaning Saint and ‘anticuy' meaning ‘to buy' in Quechua – or ‘sale of the saints'. Held in the Plaza de Armas of Cuzco for over 500 years since the Colonial times, people flock from the mountains, valleys, highlands, towns, villages and local communities to buy and sell at this sprawling Christmas Fair.

Niño Manuelito, or the Andean version of the baby Jesus, plays the lead role in this extravaganza. He and the other characters from the Christmas story are carved, hand-painted and sold in nativity sets by local people for local people, as every household in Cuzco has one in pride of place. Or you can buy Retablos, boxed scenes that contain figurines representing every aspect of life, secular and sacred. There are even sets of clothes on offer for the baby and Madonna.

After two days of setting up at 8am on Christmas Eve, everybody flocks to the market as it is custom to buy a saint every year to add to your nativity scene. Or they may buy a ceramic animal figurines created by the people of Pucará who come from the highlands (altiplano), near Lake Titicaca and are traditional potters. To give the scenes an authentic touch, peasants sell mounds of grasses and mosses for a pittance in the streets and arcades around the Square to furnish these traditional boxed scenes. It's as though everybody has a part to play in the recreation of the Christmas story.