Within his official duties during his trip to Peru, on November 25th, 2001, Queen Sofia of Spain made an unscheduled stop in the city of Cusco. She paid a private visit to the site being excavated by the Pi Rambla Explorer Team.
Anselm Pi Rambla, who heads the project, took the queen on a tour of the Chinkana Grande at Saqsaywaman and Koricancha convent. Afterwards, Queen Sofia expressed her support for the excavation and commended the team