The Architectural Legacy of the Spanish Conquest in South America: A Study of Styles, Power, and Cultural Fusion in Cajamarca and Cusco

The Architectural Legacy of the Spanish Conquest in South America: A Study of Styles, Power, and Cultural Fusion in Cajamarca and Cusco The Spanish conquest of South America was not only a military and religious enterprise but also a deeply architectural one. As the conquistadors swept through the Andes and the Amazon, they brought with them not only the sword and the cross, but also the chisel, the trowel, and the blueprint of an alien urban order. The towns they subdued and reshaped—especially in Peru—became canvases upon which European ideals of power, piety, and civilization were inscribed in stone. Nowhere is this more visible than in the cities of Cajamarca and Cusco, where Spanish architecture both displaced and incorporated Inca forms, creating a hybrid urban fabric that reflects the complexity of conquest, domination, and cultural fusion. Kathedrale of Cajamarca, Peru. Architecture as an Instrument of Colonisation Architecture served as a central mechanism of colonisa...