Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CUZCO
084 / POP 350,000 / ELEV 3326M
Cosmopolitan Inca capital, Cuzco (also Cusco, or Qosq'o in Quechua) today thrives with a
measure of contradiction. Ornate cathedrals squat over Inca temples, massage hawkers ply
the narrow cobblestone streets, a woman in traditional skirt and bowler offers bottled water
to a pet llama while the finest boutiques hawk alpaca knits for small fortunes. The foremost
city of the Inca Empire is now the undisputed archaeological capital of the Americas, as
well as the continent's oldest continuously inhabited city. Few travelers to Peru will skip
visiting this premier South American destination, also the gateway to Machu Picchu.
Visitors to Cuzco get a glimpse of the richest heritage of any South American city. Mar-
ried to 21st century hustle, at times it's a bit disconcerting (note the KFC and McDonalds
behind the Inca stones). As rent soars on the Plaza de Armas and in trendy San Blas, locals
are increasingly pushed to the margins. Foreign guests undoubtedly have the run of the
roost, showing respect toward today's incarnation of this powerhouse culture is imperative.
History
Legend tells that in the 12th century, the first
inca
(king), Manco Capac, was ordered by
the ancestral sun god Inti to find the spot where he could plunge a golden rod into the
ground until it disappeared. At this spot - deemed the navel of the earth (
qosq'o
in the
Quechua language) - he founded Cuzco, the city that would become the thriving capital of
the Americas' greatest empire.
The Inca empire's main expansion occurred in the hundred years prior to the arrival of
the conquistadors in 1532. The ninth
inca,
Pachacutec, gave the empire its first bloody taste
of conquest, with unexpected victory against the more dominant Chanka tribe in 1438. His
was the first wave of expansion that would create the Inca empire.
Pachacutec also proved himself a sophisticated urban developer, devising Cuzco's fam-
ous puma shape and diverting rivers to cross the city. He built fine buildings, including the
famous Qorikancha temple and a palace on a corner of what is now the Plaza de Armas.
Among the monuments he built in honor of Inca victories are Sacsaywamán, the temple-
fortress at Ollantaytambo and possibly even Machu Picchu.
Expansion continued under following generations until Europeans discovered the New
World; at that point, the empire ranged from Quito, in Ecuador, to the area south of Santi-
ago in Chile. Shortly before the arrival of the Europeans, Huayna Cápac had divided his
empire, giving the northern part to Atahualpa and the southern Cuzco area to another son,
Huascar. The brothers fought bitterly for the kingdom. As a pure-blooded native
cuzqueño
