CUSCO TRAVEL INFORMATION

Peru is well-known for the rich legacy left by the pre-Hispanic cultures of the country throughout its territory. The tourist axis of the south has as its center the city of Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas. It is considered to be the archaeological capital of South America. In the city of Cusco, the complexity of the hybrid culture borne of the mixture of Spanish and Inca , can be appreciated. It is especially evident in the fusion between Inca ruins and Spanish colonial architecture.

Cusco was the capital of the Incan empire from its beginning in the 14th century until the Spanish conquest in 1533 , when Francisco Pizarro, the intrepid native of Extremadura, conquered the promising land of Peru. This occurred following a long and difficult voyage through Panama and over the Andes. And what a crowning glory it was! The gold mines flooded the Spanish metropolis with riches and brought about such an economic transformation throughout Europe that it led to a whole new historical era.

The Incan capital is especially know for its architecture of enormous cut-stone blocks fitted so perfectly that no mortar was needed. Coricancha , the temple of the sun, and the fortress of Sacsahuaman, that was built with enormous boulders some of which weighed over 190 tons. These are the most outstanding examples of this type of construction. Cusco was designed in the form of a puma with the legendary 15th century fortress of Sacsahuaman as the head. The confluence of the Huatanay and Tullumayo rivers was canalized and straightened to form the tail .The hearth of the city and the puma was the Huacaypata; it was the main square of Incan Cusco. Similarly, it was located in the same place as the modern city square but twice the size. A gravel covered area surrounded the palaces of past Incan kings and was the site of important ceremonies in the Inca calendar. Four main roads ,finely paved , left the square to the four corners of the empire. It was a city of such engineering excellence and beauty that it left the first Spaniards who saw it breathless.

 
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