Cuzco, the Andean capital. (Peru series 2 of 6)

Cuzco (or Cusco) is the ancient capital of the Inca empire, and thereby one of South America’s most historically significant cities. The Inca Empire was the largest, most developed society of all the Americas prior to the arrival of Europeans. With the capital in Cuzco, Inca rule extended upon as many as 35 million people, to as far as modern day Columbia and Argentina. The Spanish came in 1533, ushering in a colonial era where Inca temples were replaced with impressive catholic churches, but The Inca culture, both literally and figuratively, remained the underlying foundation upon which the Spanish built the colonial society.

Cuzco sits at 11,152ft above sea level,  in the Andean highlands, in an area known as the Sacred Valley. Because of its historical prominence, the city today is a unique antique;  many streets, walls, and plazas remain from pre-colonial times. Renaissance churches from the Spanish conquest of the 1500s occupy the most prominent  street corners in the city, but are built on the footprints of much older Inca temples. Once the capital of the Incas, the city is today the most visited city in Peru.

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