San Pedro Market, Santa Clara Arch and Plaza San Francisco

While the streets northeast of Plaza de Armas climb into museum courtyards and quiet hillside lanes, the blocks running southwest along Calle Marqués and Calle Santa Clara form Cusco’s commercial and market spine. Following a flat 10-minute route through three connected colonial squares, this walk links the botanical gardens of Plaza San Francisco and the neoclassical Santa Clara Arch with Mercado Central de San Pedro, the city’s main covered food hall since 1925.

Plaza Regocijo, Plaza San Francisco and the Santa Clara Arch

Leaving the west side of Plaza de Armas along Calle del Medio, you immediately enter Plazoleta Regocijo (Kusipata), which formed the western half of the great Inca ceremonial square before 16th-century colonial arcades divided the space in two. Continuing west along Calle Marqués brings you to Plaza San Francisco, a spacious tree-lined square planted exclusively with native Andean flora such as q’euña, kiswar, and cantuta (the sacred flower of the Incas).

On the south side of the square stands the Church and Convent of San Francisco (rebuilt in 1645), known for its catacombs, carved cedar choir, and huge 12-by-9-metre canvas depicting the genealogy of the Franciscan Order. At the western exit of the plaza rises the Arco de Santa Clara, a neoclassical stone triumphal arch ordered by Prefect Anselmo Centeno in 1835 to commemorate the Peru-Bolivia Confederation, standing directly beside the mirrored church of the Convent of Santa Clara.

Exploring Mercado Central de San Pedro

Two blocks beyond the Santa Clara Arch on Plazoleta San Pedro stands Mercado Central de San Pedro. Designed in 1925 by French civil engineer Gustave Eiffel’s firm and inaugurated under Mayor Manuel Silvestre Frisancho, the sprawling iron-roofed hall occupies an entire city block opposite the 17th-century twin-towered Church of San Pedro (built using stone blocks from the nearby Inca hospital and sanctuary).

The market interior is organised into distinct sections:

• The Bread and Cheese Aisles: Stacks of sweet round pan chuta loaves brought daily from Oropesa alongside wheels of highland queso paria and fresh requesón.
• The Juice and Breakfast Stalls: Long rows of blenders whipping fresh papaya, lucuma, cherimoya, passionfruit (maracuyá), and tumbo juices.
• Andean Grains, Chocolate and Potatoes: Sacks of red, black, and white quinoa, purple maize, Chanchamayo and Quillabamba pure cacao paste (pasta de cacao for hot chocolate), and dozens of native potato and olluco tubers.
• Hot Soup and Lunch Counters: Steaming bowls of caldo de gallina and trout dishes served at communal benches; read our Cusco food guide for what to sample.