St. Jerome blessing the people of San Jeronimo

The sun had begun to set, casting long shadows across the stones the Inca had once walked. The air grew chilly as the last few rays tried to warm the earth.  A huge crowd from the neighborhood of San Jeronimo had gathered to silently observe the arrival of St.Jerome's statue, the Saint for whom their neighborhood was named after.

A colorful, boustrious, and musical procession of bands and masked dansers had proceeded the larger than life red cloaked statue of St. Jerome from the center of Cuzco, to the church on the plaza in San Jeronimo.

Upon reaching the steps of the church, the statue of St. Jerome moved back and forth, above the heads of the vast crowd that had come to be part of this annual event.   As the church bells tolled, it was as if St. Jerome was blessing the crowd before moving into the ancient church.