CUZCO, ARCHDIOCESE of. — In the Republic of Peru, department of C. Chronologically, it is the first diocese of Peru, having been erected by Paul III on 8 January 1537. C. was created an archdiocese on 23 May 1943, with Ayacucho or Huamanga as its suffragan.
It has an area of 158,235 sq km and a population of 850,000, of whom 835,000 are Catholics, distributed among 146 parishes, in which 81 priests of the secular clergy and 58 religious priests work; approximately 200 nuns. The Dominicans have a Studium in C., where their young religious from throughout Latin America are trained. The archdiocese has a seminary and numerous churches (845), several of them noteworthy from an artistic standpoint. The Cathedral, raised to the rank of a minor basilica on 24 September 1924, is a fine Renaissance-style building with three naves; in its chapel dedicated to the Señor de la Agonia there is a painting attributed to Van Dyck. Its bell is also famous, being audible at a distance of 8 leagues. The church of S. Domingo, in the colonial style, contains good paintings and valuable wooden sculptures from the period of Spanish domination. The church of S. Blas possesses a finely carved pulpit dating from 1681, considered the finest in Latin America. The cloister of the convent of la Merced is also worthy of mention.