A fire has destroyed the famous Baroque church of San Sebastian in the Peruvian colonial city of Cusco.That incident happened already some days ago, but I was waiting to find some pics of the fire and damage in the internet first. Those fire pics are downloaded.

      One older fire truck and a dozend fire fighters, see them on the roof (like a few dolls against this massive structure), try to fight this massive blaze – no chance !!!

Residents watched in despair as the blaze burned the gilded altar and valuable paintings inside the 16th-century church. The fire began in the early hours of Friday. The authorities say it was probably caused by a short circuit.

       Next morning people could see a second fire truck – to late. The „dolls“ are still on the roof.

Firefighters said hydrants in the area were not working and were only repaired two hours later. Isn’t that typical for Latin America ??? The local priest urged residents to try to save the church. They rushed to a nearby river to collect water, but it was too late.

   Cusco’s San Sebastian in better days.

The building is still standing but most of the church’s ornate interior has been destroyed, including including work by indigenous artist Diego Quispe Tito. Cusco Mayor Carlos Moscoso broke into tears when he saw the extent of the damage.

Firefighters and police inspect the famed 16th century San Sebastian church after it was partially destroyed by fire in Cuzco, Peru, Friday, Sept. 16, 2016. The blaze that burned into Friday morning destroyed the ornate, gilded altar and about two dozen paintings at the Temple of San Sebastian.

The church had undergone extensive (2 million US$) restoration work between 2008 and 2013, but no fire security, no working hydrants, no sprinkler systems. Architect Americo Carrillo, who oversaw the work and should be blamed, described the church as “a jewel of Peru’s colonial era”. The city of Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire, which was destroyed by the Spanish conquest of most of the Americas.

The destroyed interior. Very very sad !

  That was the golden altar in San Sebastian, which is totally burned out and not  existing anymore. What a loss to worlds heritage, I am happy that I saw it once in my life.

   Now it looks like this !

  The typical view of Cusco’s Plaza: San Sebastian, the destroyed church, is the one on the left. The one on the right, Cusco Cathedral, is still o.k. Hopefully they learned and take better care now.

   Cusco Cathedral is still intact, this one is the one with the famous painting of last supper with guinea pig on the plate, see down here:

„The Last Supper“ by Marcos Zapata, 1753. A famous painting in the Cathedral of
Cusco. Marcos Zapata (1710-1773) showing Christ and the Apostles about to dine on
guinea pig washed down with a glass of Inca beer, called chicha.
Whenever you have the chance to visit Cusco in Peru, take your time and have a good look at the ancient sites and their history, sometimes you won’t get another chance !!