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Display cases of ceramics and other objects in the Willkauta Museum beneath illustrated panels, one on the Andean worldview

Memory, Science, Worldview

Willkauta Museum

A tour through the legacy of ancient Peru and its living traditions, just steps from the dining room.

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The museum

A museum for understanding ancient Peru

The Willkauta Museum is a cultural space dedicated to preserving, sharing and renewing appreciation for the legacy of ancient Peru and its living traditions. Its collection brings together original pieces, reproductions made by the museum itself and scale replicas, arranged in themed display cases and accompanied by panels and infographics on history, Andean science, biodiversity and the contribution of Peruvian civilizations to the world.

The visit

The visit takes 40 to 60 minutes and is scheduled before or after lunch, as part of the stop in Marangani. The tour is self-guided: each display case and each panel speaks for itself, and every traveler moves at their own pace. If you are traveling with a group, arrange the timing with us so there is time to have lunch and explore the museum without rushing.

Theme 1, Identity

Identity, ethnography and living customs

The traditions still present across Peru’s coast, highlands and rainforest.

  • Faces and traditional headwear

    Embroidered Cusco monteras, fine wool chullos, straw and felt hats, and Amazonian feather crowns. The display case’s infographic explains the social meaning of each headdress by region.

  • Sound and musical heritage

    Charango, quena, panpipes, pututo, Peruvian cajón, tinya and the Cajamarca clarín: the origin of each instrument and its use in the ceremonies and festivals of the Andes, the Amazon and the coast.

Theme 2, Science

Inca science, technology and organization

How Andean peoples farmed the highlands, kept the state’s records and sailed the ocean.

  • Agricultural and hydraulic engineering

    Cross-section models of the terraces and of the waru waru (raised fields) system, alongside farming tools such as the chaquitaclla, the Andean foot plow, and wooden hoes with leather bindings.

  • Inca state administration and record-keeping

    The organization of Tahuantinsuyo through its recording and calculation tools: a quipu on display, the work of the quipucamayoc and the yupana, the Inca calculator.

  • Pre-Hispanic navigation

    Scale models of log rafts with sails and of totora reed boats, and the account of the Pacific expeditions that the chronicles attribute to the Inca Túpac Yupanqui.

Theme 3, Art and ritual

Artistic expression, ritual practice and anthropology

The techniques and objects through which pre-Hispanic cultures expressed their view of the world.

  • Andean textile art

    Large-format ceremonial tapestries with geometric tokapus, anthropomorphic deities and weaving techniques that made pre-Hispanic textiles some of the most complex in the ancient world.

  • Pottery and ceremonial ceramics

    Pieces from different cultural horizons: stirrup-spout vessels, zoomorphic ceramics, ceremonial keros of clay and wood, and ritual objects.

  • Weapons and combat techniques

    Star-headed maces of stone and metal, bolas (liwi), slings (warakas), spears and bows: the weapons of pre-Columbian defense and hunting.

  • Bioarchaeology and cultural parallels

    Pre-Inca skulls with artificial cranial deformation and trepanations, and panels that compare Andean monumental architecture, astronomy and mummification with those of other great civilizations.

Theme 4, Worldview

Worldview, ancestral cuisine and biodiversity

The relationship between the cosmos, the earth and the foods that Peru gave the world.

Visitors tour the Willkauta Museum among columns with Andean designs and display cases with skulls and ceramic figures

The experience

A visit that explains itself

Each display case has its own infographic above it, so you can instantly compare the piece with its historical reconstruction and its role in society. Wall panels round out the tour, covering geography, food, biodiversity and worldview.

That is why Willkauta works for school groups as well as for Peruvian and international travelers.

  • Original pieces, reproductions and replicas
  • An infographic in every display case
  • Self-guided tour
  • 40 to 60 minutes

Traveling with a group?

Message us on WhatsApp to include the museum visit in your group’s stop and coordinate the timing with lunch.

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