nd down the middle runs a gutter for water lined with stone. The
chief defect which the streets have is that of being narrow, so that
only one horse and rider can go on one side of the gutter and another
upon the opposite side. This city is located upon the slope of a
mountain, and there are many houses upon the slope and others below on
the plain. The plaza is rectangular, and the greater part of it is flat
and paved with small stones. Around the plaza are four houses of
noblemen, who are the chief men of the city; [the houses] are of stone,
painted and carved, and the best of them is the house of
Guaynacaba,[105] a former chief, and the door of it is of marble
[colored] white and red and of other colors;[106] and there are other
very sightly buildings with flat roofs. There are, in the said city,
many other buildings and grandeurs. Along the two sides [of the city]
pass two rivers which rise a league above Cuzco, and from there down to
the city and for two leagues below it they run over stone flags so that
the water may be pure and clear, and so that, though they may rise, they
may not overflow. They have bridges for those who enter the city. Upon
the hill which, toward the city, is rounded and very steep, there is a
very beautiful fortress of earth and stone. Its large windows which look
over the city make it appear still more beautiful.[107] Within, there
are many dwellings, and a chief tower in the centre, built square, and
having four or five terraces one above another. The rooms inside are
small and the stones of which it is built are very well worked and so
well adjusted to one another that it does not appear that they have any
mortar and they are so smooth that they look like polished slabs with
the joinings in regular order and alternating with one another after the
usage in Spain.[108] There are so many rooms and towers that a person
could not see them all in one day; and many Spaniards who have been in
Lombardy and in other foreign kingdoms say that they have never seen any
other fortress like this one nor a stronger castle. Five thousand
Spaniards might well be within it; nor could it be given a broadside or
be mined, because it is on a rocky mountain. On the side toward the
city, which is a very steep slope, there is no more than one wall;[109]
on the other side, which is less steep, there are three, one above the
other. The most beautiful thing which can be seen in the edifices of
that land are these walls,