On Christmas Eve, Every Andean Village Sends Its Best Carvers to One Plaza in Cusco

The sun has barely risen over the red-tiled rooftops of Cusco when the first artisans begin unrolling their blankets in the Plaza de Armas. By noon on December 24th, what was an empty colonial square has become a sea of hand-carved saints, miniature donkeys, and Baby Jesus figures no bigger than a thumbnail. This is Santuranticuy — a Quechua word meaning 'sale of saints' — and it has transformed Christmas Eve in Peru's ancient Inca capital for over four hundred years.

Santuranticuy traces its origins to the early colonial period, when Spanish missionaries encouraged indigenous artisans to carve nativity figures as a way to teach Biblical stories. What began as religious instruction became something far more powerful — a fusion of Catholic tradition and Andean craft that has survived conquest, revolution, and modernity. The market has run continuously since at least the 1600s, making it one of the oldest Christmas markets in the Americas. Artisans from remote mountain villages like San Blas, Pucará, and Quinua travel for days to claim their spots in the plaza.

Walking through Santuranticuy is an assault on the senses in the best possible way. The scent of cedar shavings mingles with roasting anticuchos from street vendors while vendors call out in a mix of Spanish and Quechua. Every table tells a story — here, a master carver displays nativity sets where the Wise Men wear traditional Andean ponchos and llamas stand in for camels. There, a grandmother arranges tiny painted clay churches, each one a perfect replica of a village chapel she has never left. The craftsmanship ranges from elaborate museum-quality pieces to simple clay figurines a child might buy with pocket change.

While Americans often purchase their nativity sets from department stores or inherit them from grandparents, Peruvian families make the Christmas Eve trip to Santuranticuy a sacred annual ritual. Children receive their first carved figure as toddlers and add to their collection each year, building nativities that span decades and generations. The tradition mirrors something we used to understand better in America — that the most meaningful Christmas decorations are not the most expensive, but the ones touched by human hands and carried home with intention. It is a reminder that Christmas markets existed long before they became tourist attractions.