Cuzco (Cusco)

Cuzco (also Cusco), the capital of Cuzco department in southern Peru, was the capital of the Inca empire from its beginnings in the 14th century until the Spanish conquest in 1533. A tourist attraction, the city is known for its Inca ruins and Spanish colonial architecture. Situated at an altitude of 3,416 m (11,207 ft) in a broad valley of the Andes, it is the busy hub of a thickly populated agricultural region where sheep are raised and cereals and tobacco are grown. The population of 255,568 (1993) is predominantly Indian, and the city, with its open markets, adobe houses, and narrow, winding cobblestone streets, is Indian in character. Quechua, the Inca language, is still widely spoken. The climate is cool, with temperatures averaging about 10.9¡ C (51.6¡ F). Annual precipitation is 750 mm (29.5 in). The area is subject to earthquakes, the most damaging having occurred in 1650 and 1950.

Inca tribes are believed to have come to Cuzco from the Lake Titicaca region in about the 11th century. The legendary founder of the city was Manco Capac, first of the Inca rulers. The name Cuzco is Quechua for "navel," and the city was considered the center of the Inca world, the place where the four parts of the empire came together. It was the hub from which the famous Inca road network radiated.

Inca Cuzco was different in concept and plan from European cities. It was designed in the form of a puma, with the 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 core of the city contained official and ceremonial buildings and residences of ruling officials. Many other buildings and residences were dispersed at a considerable distance in the countryside surrounding the core, but they were defined as part of the capital.

The Inca capital is especially known 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 are the most outstanding examples of this type of construction. Cuzco is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From all parts of the Inca empire a wealth of silver and gold poured into Cuzco, filling the temples and palaces. These treasures were plundered by Francisco Pizarro in 1533, and the city was destroyed. The Spaniards built a new city on the ruins of the old, adorning the magnificent edifices of their churches with the looted wealth. Under Spanish rule Cuzco flourished as an art center, home of the renowned Cuzque–o school of painting.