Koricancha is a classic example of the fusion of Inca and Western cultures, and was one of the most important temples in the Tahuantinsuyu. Its finely polished stone walls were used as the foundations of the Convent of Santo Domingo.
The temple, whose walls were said to have been sheathed in gold and silver, was dedicated to sun worship, as well as containing images of the gods of thunder and Wiracocha, deities brought from various regions and the mummified bodies of Inca rulers.
Worship within the temple was reserved for the highest-ranking figures of the era, and it was visited by representatives of distant, non-Inca communities all over the empire to render homage to the gods of the Tahuantinsuyu.