The celebration of Corpus Christi (the Body of Christ) is the most important festivity in the Catholic Religious Calendar worldwide. It dates back to the late 16th century and has its roots in medieval times. Corpus Christi was introduced in the Americas as part of the policy of Evangelization to convert the population of the New World into Catholicism. The Celebration in 2008 was the 461th uninterrupted Procession of Corpus Christi in Cuzco. It is the oldest celebration in Cuzco and possibly in the Americas.

The Celebration of Corpus Christi in Cuzco is the expression of Andean or also called popular Catholicism, as it is called in current religious studies. The celebration has been called “the festivity of Cuzquenians”. This is due to the massive participation of all social groups, rich and poor; due to the amount of time people devote to the celebration, the artistic display involved in the decoration and adornment of the images and their litters, together with music and dance and the special food and drinks that are consumed during the party that follows the processional parades.

The dates of this Festivity are movable, depending on Easter. The celebration consists of a series of processions that include, in addition to the Monstrance in a tabernacle made of solid gold, placed on an 18th century silver carriage, fourteen life-size Saints and Madonnas from different parishes around the city of Cuzco. These images are beautifully and sumptuously bejeweled and bedecked thanks to the many devotees who give generously to have the most lavish litters possible for the Saint or Madonna of their devotion.

San Cristobal