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Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire. It is located at an altitude of around 3400 m (11,200 ft). When the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in Cuzco in 1533, the palace of Viracocha was identified as the location for a cathedral to firmly implant Catholicism and eradicate Inca religion. The Cathedral's construction began in 1559, using the destroyed Inca palace as a foundation. Most of the stones for the building were taken from Sacsayhuamán, the Inca fortress high over Cuzco. Construction was completed in 1654.
Cusco, elevation 11,000 ft, is in the Peruvian Andes. It was once capital of the Inca Empire, and is now known for its archaeological remains and Spanish colonial architecture. Plaza de Armas is the central square in the old city, with arcades, carved wooden balconies and Incan wall ruins.
Cusco, often spelled Cuzco, is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the figure of 20 years ago. Located on the eastern end of the Knot of Cuzco, its elevation is around 3,400 m (11,200 ft).
The cosmopolitan city, the navel of the world, the capital of the Incan empire, today it still allures the travelers... www.perusummit.com/
Sacsayhuamán is a walled complex high above the Inca city of Cusco (in the background below) at an altitude of 3,700 m (12,140 ft). Sacsayhuamán was originally built by the prehistoric Killke culture about 1100. They were superseded by the Inca who occupied and expanded the complex beginning about 1200. The complex probably served as a fortress. Some believe that the complex was built specifically in the shape of the head of a puma with Cusco below being its body.
The walls consist of massive blocks of stone which are so closely spaced that it is impossible even to slide a piece of paper between the stones. It is unknown how the blocks were moved and how the walls were constructed. This precision, combined with the rounded corners of the limestone blocks, the variety of their interlocking shapes, and the way the walls lean inward, is thought to have helped the ruins survive devastating earthquakes in Cusco.
The Spanish harvested much rock from the walls of the structure to build churches and monasteries in Cusco. This is why the walls are in perfect condition up to a certain height, and missing above that point.