West of Sr. Lomellini’s warehouse is the monastery and plaza of San Francisco. The plaza is chiefly interesting for the Beggars Fair which is held here every Saturday evening. There are practically no pawn shops in Cuzco, but this fair takes their place. We were told it was an excellent opportunity to obtain bargains. It may be so for the natives, but as we were branded at once as “foreigners who had plenty of money,” the prices of everything were put up to the highest possible notch and kept there. I was surprised at the amount of old rubbish, rusty nails, bits of broken pottery, and worn-out second-hand clothing, hundreds of things that one rarely sees exposed for sale in a pawn shop, and many on which no one but a junk dealer would advance a penny. As a picturesque spectacle, however, the Fair was most attractive. The plaza was lit up by smoking torches and crowded with a swarm of bargain hunters who jostled each other noisily up and down the long lines of traders seated on the ground behind their wares.
Nearly all the fairs in the Andes are held on Sunday mornings. The market-places are usually entirely deserted in the evening. I suppose in this fair it would not do to expose cast-off household treasures to the full light of day. Not only is the chance of making a sale much greater when the article can only be seen by torch-light, but the newly-poor individual, who is forced to bring hither his household goods, may more easily avoid the scrutiny of his newly-rich neighbors.
Looming up in the darkness, above the torches, the tall tower of the Franciscan church added a touch of solemnity to the scene. One afternoon we had an opportunity to visit the monastery and examine the beautiful wood-carvings in the choir. Like all the Franciscan establishments that we visited, the rule of the order is strictly enforced, the gardens are well kept, and although one can easily see that the Order has seen better days, there is little to criticise.
The Great Plaza of Cuzco, once much larger than it is now, and the scene of many Inca carnivals, is still very attractive. On its east side stands the massive cathedral and its chapels, said to have been built entirely of stones taken from Inca palaces near by.