Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu was constructed around 1460, at the height of the Inca Empire. It was abandoned less than 100 years later. It is likely that most of its inhabitants were wiped out by smallpox before the Spanish conquistadores arrived in the area and there is no record of their having known of the remote city. Hiram Bingham, the credited discoverer of the site, along with several others, originally hypothesized that the citadel was the traditional birthplace of the Inca of the "Virgins of the Suns". Read More

Inca Trail

Part of the 23,000 kilometers (approximately 14,000 miles) of roads built by the Incas in South America, this is Peru's most famous trekking route and possibly one of the most spectacular in the Americas. Every year; some 25,000 hikers from around the world walk along the extraordinary 43 kilometers of this stone-paved road built by the Incas leading to the unassailable citadel of Machu Picchu located in the depth of the Cuzco jungle. The journey starts in the village of Qorihuayrachina, at kilometer 88 of the Cuzco - Quillabamba railway and takes three or four days of strenuous walking. The route includes an impressive variety of altitudes, climates and ecosystems that range from the high Andean plain to the cloud forest. Travelers will cross two high altitude passes (the highest being Warmiwañuska at 4,200 m.a.s.l.) to culminate the hike with a magical entrance to Machu Picchu through the Inti Punko or Gateway of the Sun.  Read More 

The Sacred Valley

The Sacred Valley of the Incas is a valley in the Andes of Peru, close to the Inca capital of Cusco. The Valley is generally understood to include everything between Písac and Ollantaytambo, parallel to the Urubamba River, or Vilcanota River or Wilcamayu, as this Sacred river is called when passing through the valley. It is fed by numerous rivers which descend through adjoining valleys and gorges, and contains numerous archaeological remains and villages. The valley was appreciated by the Incas due to its special geographical and climatic qualities. It was one of the empire's main points for the extraction of natural wealth, and the best place for maize production in Peru. Read More

Sacsayhuaman

Sacsayhuamán (also known as Saksaq Waman) is an Inca walled complex near the old city of Cusco, at an altitude of 3,701 m.

Some believe the walls were a form of fortification, while others believe it was only used to form the head of the Puma that Sacsayhuamán along with Cuzco form when seen from above. Like much Inca stonework, there is still mystery surrounding how they were constructed. The structure is built in such a way that a single piece of paper will not fit between many of the stones. 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 Cuzco. The longest of three walls is about 400 meters. They are about 6 meters tall. Estimated volume of stone is over 6,000 cubic meters. Estimates for the largest limestone block vary from 128 tonnes to almost 200 tonnes. Read More

Ollantaytambo

Ollantaytambo is a town and an Inca archaeological site in southern Peru some 60 kilometers northwest of the city of Cusco. It is located at an altitude of 2,792 meters above sea level in the district of Ollantaytambo, province of Urubamba, Cusco region. During the Inca Empire, Ollantaytambo was the royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti who conquered the region, built the town and a ceremonial center. At the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru it served as a stronghold for Manco Inca Yupanqui, leader of the Inca resistance. Nowadays it is an important tourist attraction on account of its Inca buildings and as one of the most common starting points for the three-day, four-night hike known as the Inca Trail. Read More

Pisaq or Pisac

Písac is a Peruvian village in the Sacred Valley on the Urubamba River. The village is well-known for its market every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, an event which attracts heavy tourist traffic from nearby Cusco. One of its more notable features is a large pisonay tree which dominates the central plaza. The sanctuary of Huanca, home to a sacred shrine, is also near the village. Pilgrims travel to the shrine every September. Read More

Cusco Cathedral

The Cathedral  in Cusco, which is also known as 'Cusco Cathedral,' is set on the main square of the Peruvian city, the Plaza de Armas. Building was completed in 1654, almost a hundred years after construction began. Adjacent, and joined, to the cathedral is the smaller 'Iglesia del Triunfo', which was the first christian church to be built in Cusco. The 'Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus,'that also dominates the Plaza de Armas, was built at a similar time to Santo Domingo. The Cathedral, as well as its official status as a place of worship, has become a major repository of Cusco's colonial art, and also many artifacts and relics

The gothic-renaissance style of architecture employed in the design of the cathedral reflects that of Spain during the period of the Spanish conquest of South America and also Cusco. There is also evidence of a baroque influence in the magnificent facade facing onto the Plaza de Armas.

Due to the resentful feelings felt by the conquered Incas towards the Spaniards, the Inca workforce incorporated much of their religious symbolism into the construction of the cathedral, for example, the carved head of a puma (an important god or religious motif found widely through much of ancient Peru) on the cathedral doors